25,000 run, walk or roll in marathon

Along Vine Street near the four-mile marker at Sunset Boulevard, spectators at Sunday’s Los Angeles Marathon banged cowbells, held out cups of water and rustled pompoms as the runners raced past.

Husband-and-wife cheering squad Joseph Carrillo, 35, and Natalie Wong, 30, of Montebello waited for Wong’s boss with plastic bags of pretzels and oranges. They also had a sign that read “Team Molasses” because the group was “slow and sweet,” Wong said, laughing.

It was a scene repeated throughout the city Sunday during the 23rd annual race.

Near the eight-mile marker at Harvard Avenue and 6th Street, a mariachi band, Aztec dancers and Korean drummers cheered the runners along. One marathoner in a Zorro mask jogged by wielding a plastic knife, and two Elvis impersonators pushed a stroller with a boombox blasting some of the King’s greatest hits.

Lucia Sung, 45, jumped into the stream of runners to give her fiance, Michael Kelly, a high-five.

“He’s not a young chicken, so I’m proud of him,” Sung said. She told Kelly she’d be waiting for him in front of their favorite noodle shop in Koreatown so she’d be easy to spot.

More than 25,000 wheelchair racers, bike riders, walkers, weekend joggers and more serious runners flooded the city’s open streets for 26.2 miles. They passed Los Angeles landmarks including the Hollywood Bowl, the Walk of Fame, the Coliseum, the 6th Street Bridge and the U.S. Bank Tower.

“You never have the opportunity to go through these streets without all the traffic,” said Janet Zimmerman, 41, of Manhattan Beach. “In the end when you see all the skyscrapers and the downtown landscape, it gives you a little boost.”

Saul Mendoza was the first winner of the day when he captured his seventh L.A. Marathon men’s wheelchair race with a time of 1:31:12. Mendoza won in a neck-and-neck battle against second-place finisher Krige Schaburt, whose front tire had been punctured.

Tatiana Aryasova of Russia finished in 2:29:09, fast enough to win both the women’s event and the $100,000 bonus for the first man or woman to finish. The women were given a statistically competitive head start of 19 minutes, 38 seconds.

Laban Moiben of Kenya won the men’s event in 2:13:50, running at a pace of 5:06 a mile.

Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge hailed the marathon as the legacy of the 1984 Olympic Games and said he was glad organizers kept last year’s general route that dips into East Los Angeles and Boyle Heights.

“Now Los Angeles has become the world, and all its diversity is participating in the marathon,” LaBonge said. “It’s a great civic event, not just an athletic event.”

Among those crowded near the entrance to the 6th Street bridge was 53-year-old Martha Cisneros of the Boyle Heights neighborhood council.

“We love it because we had been excluded all these years,” Cisneros said. “I used to just catch it on TV . . . now it’s getting bigger.”

Although the race is an individual event, many people on hand, whether as spectators or participants, were part of a team.

Members of the Los Angeles Cacophony Society dangled doughnuts on fishing poles and offered cans of beer to the runners. “We’re giving people what they want,” said Joe Borfo. The society, which has been attending the marathon for a decade, has previously offered fried chicken, poetry readings and lap dances.

On a more serious note, a group of about 30 SWAT officers from the Los Angeles Police Department were running as part of a memorial dedicated to Officer Randal Simmons, who died in the line of duty last month.

Some of the officers ran the race as a relay, carrying a torch that was handed off every three miles until it was finally passed to Simmons’ teenage son, Matthew, who carried the flame from mile 25 to the finish line.

“It was an honor and a privilege to run for my father,” Matthew said. “I’m sure he’s looking down and is pleased.”

Jamie Ortiz, 47, a mechanic from Montclair in San Bernardino County said he felt like crying with happiness when he crossed the finish line after running for nearly three hours.

He said he doesn’t quite understand why he and fellow “crazies” are so passionate about marathons.

“Running is my life, and I want to keep doing it until I die,” Ortiz said. “It’s like an addiction. And even if I take a break from it for a few days, I always need to go back.”

tiffany.hsu@latimes.com

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