Latest news with #LosAngelesMarathon
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
2026 LA Marathon Moved to Accommodate Oscars
On Tuesday, Mayor Bass announced that the LA Marathon will be moved to accommodate the Oscars, as the events were originally scheduled on the same day. The 2026 Los Angeles Marathon, originally slated for March 15, will now take place later in the month. The scheduling conflict emerged earlier this year when the McCourt Foundation and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences independently announced the same date for their events. According to a joint statement reported by ABC News, Mayor Karen Bass stepped in to mediate, leading to an agreement that allows the Oscars to remain on March 15. The marathon will be moved to a new date that will be announced soon. With both events requiring extensive road closures, police presence, and live television coverage, holding them simultaneously would have been nearly impossible. The Dolby Theatre, home to the Oscars, sits along the marathon route, making it particularly challenging to clean and secure the area in time for a red carpet broadcast after 25,000 runners pass through. Murphy Reinschreiber, chief operating officer of the McCourt Foundation, told the Los Angeles Times that the scope of the marathon complicates any date change. The course stretches from Dodger Stadium to Century City, involving thousands of volunteers, medical personnel, and city staff. 'There are two major facilities — Dodger Stadium and Century City — connected by what's really a 26-mile stage,' he said. 'The number of people, communities and businesses that are all impacted by a change of date is mind-boggling.' More than 5,000 people have already registered for the 2026 race. They will be offered the option of a refund due to the change. As part of the agreement, the Academy has committed to avoiding future conflicts by preserving the third Sunday in March for the marathon. Though that date is traditional, the event has shifted in the past. In 2009, for instance, it was held on Memorial Day to accommodate Sunday church services. In 2016, it coincided with the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in February. The COVID-19 pandemic also pushed the 2021 marathon to November. The marathon and the Academy also plan to collaborate moving forward, promoting one another's events to serve the broader Los Angeles community.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
LA Marathon will move its 2026 race date to accommodate the Oscars
News that next year's Los Angeles Marathon and Oscars were double booked for March 15 caused a headache for the organizers of both events, but a solution was reached Thursday with the marathon agreeing to change dates. The 98th Oscars will be held as originally scheduled, according to a joint statement issued by the Los Angeles Marathon and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The McCourt Foundation, which organizes the marathon, will announce a new March date for the race in the coming days. In return, the academy said that in future years it will honor the marathon's tradition of hosting the run on the third Sunday in March. The two organizations also agreed to work together to promote each other's events "to benefit the greater Los Angeles community," according to the statement. Murphy Reinschreiber, chief operating officer of the McCourt Foundation, told The Times that it would be logistically impossible to hold both events on the same day. The Oscars is hosted at the Dolby Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard, which is along the marathon route. It's simply not feasible for thousands of runners and spectators to pass the theater and then have the area cleaned up and ready to host a red carpet event a few hours later, he said. Both events also require significant road closures, law enforcement deployment and are broadcast by KTLA. The McCourt Foundation announced its 2026 marathon date on March 15 this year. Two days later, the Academy published a news release announcing that the 2026 Oscars was also scheduled on March 15. Reinschreiber was driving home after finishing cleaning up this year's marathon, eager to rest after successfully executing the huge sporting event, when he learned of the double booking. "It was confusing and the other thought that went to my mind is there are just no days off in this business," he said. "It's one thing after the other." Moving a marathon is no easy feat. The event spans a massive chunk of the city and involves over 25,000 runners, thousands of volunteers, medical personnel, law enforcement and city workers. "There are two major facilities — Dodger Stadium and Century City — connected by what's really a 26-mile stage, and the number of people, communities and businesses that are all impacted by a change of date is mind-boggling," he said. "We are going to have to undergo a significant community awareness program." More than 5,000 people have registered for the 2026 Marathon, and they will need to be offered the option of a refund due to the change in date, he said. While the marathon is typically held on the third Sunday in March, there have been exceptions. In 2009, it was moved to Memorial Day to reduce disruptions to Sunday churchgoers. It was moved back to March the following year based on community feedback. In 2016, it was held Feb. 14, a Sunday, to coincide with the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. Then, in 2021, the event was postponed until November because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Oscars' date has traditionally been more flexible, but it often takes place on the last Sunday in February or the first Sunday in March. In 2021, the awards show was delayed to April 25 because of the pandemic. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
LA Marathon will move its 2026 race date to accommodate the Oscars
News that next year's Los Angeles Marathon and Oscars were double booked for March 15 caused a headache for the organizers of both events, but a solution was reached Thursday with the marathon agreeing to change dates. The 98th Oscars will be held as originally scheduled, according to a joint statement issued by the Los Angeles Marathon and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The McCourt Foundation, which organizes the marathon, will announce a new March date for the race in the coming days. In return, the academy said that in future years it will honor the marathon's tradition of hosting the run on the third Sunday in March. The two organizations also agreed to work together to promote each other's events 'to benefit the greater Los Angeles community,' according to the statement. Murphy Reinschreiber, chief operating officer of the McCourt Foundation, told The Times that it would be logistically impossible to hold both events on the same day. The Oscars is hosted at the Dolby Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard, which is along the marathon route. It's simply not feasible for thousands of runners and spectators to pass the theater and then have the area cleaned up and ready to host a red carpet event a few hours later, he said. Both events also require significant road closures, law enforcement deployment and are broadcast by KTLA. The McCourt Foundation announced its 2026 marathon date on March 15 this year. Two days later, the Academy published a news release announcing that the 2026 Oscars was also scheduled on March 15. Reinschreiber was driving home after finishing cleaning up this year's marathon, eager to rest after successfully executing the huge sporting event, when he learned of the double booking. 'It was confusing and the other thought that went to my mind is there are just no days off in this business,' he said. 'It's one thing after the other.' Moving a marathon is no easy feat. The event spans a massive chunk of the city and involves over 25,000 runners, thousands of volunteers, medical personnel, law enforcement and city workers. 'There are two major facilities — Dodger Stadium and Century City — connected by what's really a 26-mile stage, and the number of people, communities and businesses that are all impacted by a change of date is mind-boggling,' he said. 'We are going to have to undergo a significant community awareness program.' More than 5,000 people have registered for the 2026 Marathon, and they will need to be offered the option of a refund due to the change in date, he said. While the marathon is typically held on the third Sunday in March, there have been exceptions. In 2009, it was moved to Memorial Day to reduce disruptions to Sunday churchgoers. It was moved back to March the following year based on community feedback. In 2016, it was held Feb. 14, a Sunday, to coincide with the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. Then, in 2021, the event was postponed until November because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Oscars' date has traditionally been more flexible, but it often takes place on the last Sunday in February or the first Sunday in March. In 2021, the awards show was delayed to April 25 because of the pandemic.
Chicago Tribune
20-04-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
John Korir hopes to build on Chicago win and join his brother as a Boston Marathon champion
BOSTON — John Korir has the resume that proves he is fast enough to win the Boston Marathon and the family connections that might just help him do it. The reigning Chicago Marathon champion has been getting tips on the course from his brother, Wesley Korir, who won here in 2012. John Korir has finished fourth and ninth in two previous Boston attempts, and he thinks having a champion spilling his secrets could be the difference this time. 'He knows the course well. He knows where to make a move and also to relax the legs,' said the younger Korir, whose time of 2 hours, 2 minutes, 44 seconds in Chicago is the second-fastest in Monday's Boston field. 'So that's been a good help to me in training. I think it's good.' John Korir, 28, is 14 years younger than Wesley and was still in school when his brother won one of the hottest Boston Marathons ever, fighting temperatures that hit 85 degrees at the finish. (This year's forecasts call for more comfortable marathon weather in the high 30s and low 40s at the start in Hopkinton, rising to the mid-50s as the runners make their way toward Copley Square. Winds are expected to be light.) Wesley Korir waited out an early move from the pack at Heartbreak Hill, then passed the leaders when they tired. That kind of experience could be helpful in Boston, which favors strategy over speed: Eliud Kipchoge, the world record holder at the time and considered the greatest marathoner ever, flopped in his only Boston attempt; Wesley Korir's time of 2:12:40 in 2012 was more than nine minutes slower than Geoffrey Mutai's course record the year before, and six minutes off Korir's personal best. But it was a win. 'It's always helpful to have somebody that has gone through it before you, so you don't have to make the mistakes that I've made,' Wesley Korir said. 'For me, my goal is always to look at the mistakes during my running career and help him to prevent that so he can be ahead, ahead in life.' The elder Korir followed his athletic career, which also included two victories in the Los Angeles Marathon, by winning a seat in the Kenyan parliament, where he worked to provide clean water for his region. He used some of his Boston Marathon prize money to build a hospital in Kenya. 'The thing that I've been helping him to do is run for more than yourself. Have a purpose in running,' he said. 'And that's what keeps us running: When you have a purpose higher than yourself, all the pain means nothing.' John Korir has pledged his Boston winnings to the Transcend Talent Academy, which provides an education for aspiring runners who are too poor to pay for one. Wesley Korir has also worked with the school. 'As I am getting old, he's coming to take over,' he said. 'So that makes me happy, as a person, as a big brother, to see him look at a cause that was very important to me, and taking it upon himself to say, I want to help you in this cause and continue what you started.' 'The original fastest Bostonian' There will be a ceremony at the finish line on Monday morning, just before the runners leave Hopkinton, to remember the man Boston Mayor Michelle Wu called 'the original fastest Bostonian: Paul Revere.' The National Lancers, a ceremonial cavalry squadron based in Framingham, will ride on Boylston Street to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Revere's ride at the start of the American Revolution. Revere set off from Boston to warn the colonists in Lexington and Concord that the British regulars were on the march. A reenactment of the first shots fired in the War of Independence is typically held on marathon Monday as part of the state holiday of Patriots' Day; this year's took place on April 19, the actual anniversary. The National Lancers were a unit in the Massachusetts Organized Militia formed in 1836 that served in the Civil War and World War I. Since 1920, it has served as a ceremonial unit that rides in patriotic events. Speaking of revolutionary rides … To honor the 50th anniversary of the official recognition of the wheelchair division, 1975 and '77 winner Bob Hall will serve as grand marshal for this year's race. 'In Boston, we love celebrating anniversaries and the milestones that got us here,' Boston Athletic Association President Jack Fleming said last week. 'What a revolutionary idea that was: wheelchair racing in the 1970s.' Reigning champions Marcel Hug and Eden Rainbow-Cooper will defend their titles. Hug, of Switzerland, recovered from a crash to earn his seventh Boston title last year and set a course record in 1 hour, 15 minutes, 33 seconds. It remains the only major marathon victory for Rainbow-Cooper, of Britain. Also serving as grand marshal is Bill Rodgers, who won the men's race in 1975 for the first of his four Boston victories. In the field Defending women's champion Hellen Obiri of Kenya will try to become the first woman since 1999 — and the fourth woman ever — to win three times in a row. Des Linden, the 2018 champion and the last American runner to win Boston, leads the deepest contingent of U.S. women ever, with 14 contenders heading to Hopkinton with sub-2:26 times. Sisay Lemma of Ethiopia is looking to repeat in a men's field that includes five major marathon champions and 22 runners who have a time below 2:09. Evans Chebet, the 2022 and '23 winner, is looking for his third win. Ethiopian Lelisa Desisa, the 2013 and '15 winner, dropped out of the field on Sunday after determining he wasn't fit to compete for a victory. In all, there were 31,778 people entered — 18,062 men, 13,640 women and 76 nonbinary. The field includes residents of 128 countries and all 50 U.S. states. A total of $1,214,500 in prize money is at stake across the open, wheelchair and para athletics divisions, including $50,000 bonuses for a course record.
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
John Korir hopes to build on Chicago win and join his brother as a Boston Marathon champion
BOSTON (AP) — John Korir has the resume that proves he is fast enough to win the Boston Marathon and the family connections that might just help him do it. The reigning Chicago Marathon champion has been getting tips on the course from his brother, Wesley, who won here in 2012. John Korir has finished fourth and ninth in two previous Boston attempts, and he thinks having a champion spilling his secrets could be the difference this time. 'He knows the course well. He knows where to make a move and also to relax the legs,' said the younger Korir, whose time of 2 hours, 2 minutes, 44 seconds in Chicago is the second-fastest in Monday's Boston field. 'So that's been a good help to me in training. I think it's good.' John Korir, who is 28 and 14 years younger than Wesley, was still in school when his brother won one of the hottest Boston Marathons ever, fighting temperatures that hit 85 degrees at the finish. (This year's forecasts call for more comfortable marathon weather in the high 30s and low 40s at the start in Hopkinton, rising to the mid-50s as the runners make their way toward Copley Square. Winds are expected to be light.) Wesley Korir waited out an early move from the pack at Heartbreak Hill, then passed the leaders when they tired. That kind of experience could be helpful in Boston, which favors strategy over speed: Eliud Kipchoge, the world record holder at the time and considered the greatest marathoner ever, flopped in his only Boston attempt; Wesley Korir's time of 2:12:40 in 2012 was more than nine minutes slower than Geoffrey Mutai's course record the year before, and six minutes off Korir's personal best. But it was a win. 'It's always helpful to have somebody that has gone through it before you, so you don't have to make the mistakes that I've made," Wesley Korir said. 'For me, my goal is always to look at the mistakes during my running career and help him to prevent that so he can be ahead, ahead in life.' The elder Korir followed his athletic career, which also included two victories in the Los Angeles Marathon, by winning a seat in the Kenyan parliament, where he worked to provide clean water for his region. He used some of his Boston Marathon prize money to build a hospital in Kenya. 'The thing that I've been helping him to do is run for more than yourself. Have a purpose in running,' he said. 'And that's what keeps us running: When you have a purpose higher than yourself, all the pain means nothing.' John Korir has pledged his Boston winnings to the Transcend Talent Academy, which provides an education for aspiring runners who are too poor to pay for one. Wesley Korir has also worked with the school. 'As I am getting old, he's coming to take over,' he said. 'So that makes me happy, as a person, as a big brother, to see him look at a cause that was very important to me, and taking it upon himself to say, I want to help you in this cause and continue what you started.' 'The original fastest Bostonian' There will be a ceremony at the finish line on Monday morning, just before the runners leave Hopkinton, to remember the man Boston Mayor Michelle Wu called 'the original fastest Bostonian: Paul Revere.' The National Lancers, a ceremonial cavalry squadron based in Framingham, will ride on Boylston Street to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Revere's ride at the start of the American Revolution. Revere set off from Boston to warn the colonists in Lexington and Concord that the British regulars were on the march. A reenactment of the first shots fired in the War of Independence is typically held on marathon Monday as part of the state holiday of Patriots' Day; this year's took place on April 19, the actual anniversary. The National Lancers were a unit in the Massachusetts Organized Militia formed in 1836 that served in the Civil War and World War I. Since 1920, it has served as a ceremonial unit that rides in patriotic events. Speaking of revolutionary rides … To honor the 50th anniversary of the official recognition of the wheelchair division, 1975 and '77 winner Bob Hall will serve as grand marshal for this year's race. 'In Boston, we love celebrating anniversaries and the milestones that got us here,' Boston Athletic Association President Jack Fleming said last week. 'What a revolutionary idea that was: wheelchair racing in the 1970s.' Reigning champions Marcel Hug and Eden Rainbow-Cooper will defend their titles. Hug, of Switzerland, recovered from a crash to earn his seventh Boston title last year and set a course record in 1 hour, 15 minutes, 33 seconds. It remains the only major marathon victory for Rainbow-Cooper, of Britain. Also serving as grand marshal is Bill Rodgers, who won the men's race in 1975 for the first of his four Boston victories. In the field Defending women's champion Hellen Obiri of Kenya will try to become the first woman since 1999 — and the fourth woman ever — to win three times in a row. Des Linden, the 2018 champion and the last American runner to win Boston, leads the deepest contingent of U.S. women ever, with 14 contenders heading to Hopkinton with sub-2:26 times. Sisay Lemma of Ethiopia is looking to repeat in a men's field that includes five major marathon champions and 22 runners who have a time below 2:09. Evans Chebet, the 2022 and '23 winner, is looking for his third win. Ethiopian Lelisa Desisa, the 2013 and '15 winner, dropped out of the field on Sunday after determining he wasn't fit to compete for a victory. In all, there were 31,778 people entered -- 18,062 men, 13,640 women and 76 nonbinary. The field includes residents of 128 countries and all 50 U.S. states. A total of $1,214,500 in prize money is at stake across the open, wheelchair and para athletics divisions, including $50,000 bonuses for a course record. ___ AP sports:
