antiquity
03-05-2002, 02:08 PM
Runners Breeze Through New Marathon Course
By CHARLES ORNSTEIN, KURT STREETER and TINA DIRMANN
The 17th Los Angeles Marathon featured a flatter course, a record number of competitors, a slew of patriotic displays and even a wedding ceremony near the 6-mile marker.
But the new course, which eliminated a grueling uphill climb through Hollywood, failed to produce the records that organizers envisioned.
More than 23,000 runners from all 50 states and more than 80 countries began the race downtown in the shadow of the future Disney Concert Hall, which will be home to the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The day's athletic fete also included a 25-mile bike tour, a wheelchair race and a 5-kilometer run/walk. Stephen Ndungu of Kenya won the 26.2-mile race, the first man to win the race in two consecutive years, with a time of 2:10:27 that easily beat other elite runners. But Ndungu's time was nearly a minute off the record set by fellow Kenyan Simon Bor in 1999.
In the women's race the winner, Lyubov Denisova of Russia, recorded a time of 2:28:49, which was more than two minutes off the race record. Denisova and Ndungu, who both beat their personal best performances, won $30,000 each and new Honda Accords.
By CHARLES ORNSTEIN, KURT STREETER and TINA DIRMANN
The 17th Los Angeles Marathon featured a flatter course, a record number of competitors, a slew of patriotic displays and even a wedding ceremony near the 6-mile marker.
But the new course, which eliminated a grueling uphill climb through Hollywood, failed to produce the records that organizers envisioned.
More than 23,000 runners from all 50 states and more than 80 countries began the race downtown in the shadow of the future Disney Concert Hall, which will be home to the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The day's athletic fete also included a 25-mile bike tour, a wheelchair race and a 5-kilometer run/walk. Stephen Ndungu of Kenya won the 26.2-mile race, the first man to win the race in two consecutive years, with a time of 2:10:27 that easily beat other elite runners. But Ndungu's time was nearly a minute off the record set by fellow Kenyan Simon Bor in 1999.
In the women's race the winner, Lyubov Denisova of Russia, recorded a time of 2:28:49, which was more than two minutes off the race record. Denisova and Ndungu, who both beat their personal best performances, won $30,000 each and new Honda Accords.