Results tagged “race”

Okay, it's time to stop munching on that mac and cheese. On the heels of a major makeover to the Los Angeles Marathon route , two new half marathons for Los Angeles were announced today by separate companies. Come this January, the 13.1 Los Angeles Marathon will run through the Westside and next October, the popular Rock n' Roll Marathon will make a debut in Los Angeles, replacing the City of Angels Half Marathon.

Despite his aggressive campaign full of neighborhood town halls across the state, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced this afternoon that he has dropped out of the race for California Governor. He was the only major name running for the position but his fundraising and poll numbers lagged behind Attorney General Jerry Brown, who has yet to officially announce a run for Governor. Gavin's statement is below:

Although it has not been officially announced, LAist has learned that the Amgen Tour of California bicycle race will go through at least two Southern California cities next year during its new date in May. Downtown Los Angeles and the cities of Thousand Oaks (home to the sponsor, Amgen), Agoura Hills, Westlake will play host to the race's fifth year. The full route is expected to be announced tomorrow morning at a series of events throughout the state, but organizers are encouraging fans of the race to follow four Twitter accounts tomorrow morning to be up to date on the latest news.

                     

Brakes are required at the Red Bull Soapbox Races but a sense of self-preservation is not. The event has been held in more than 40 countries over the past decade, with vehicle designers thinking way outside of their so-called-box. It stopped in downtown Los Angeles for the first time on Saturday.

With former Governor Pete Wilson as her campaign chairman, former eBay executive and Reublican Meg Whitman formally announced her run for Governor yesterday in Orange County, already gain criticism from an annoyed Governor Schwarzenegger.

Attorney General Jerry Brown may officially not be running for Governor yet, but he's raised a lot more money than San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who aggressively has been holding town hall meetings across the state. Today Newsom'e campaign announced that Former President Bill Clinton will join him at two events in Los Angeles, one of which that will be a fundraiser. A look at the first half of 2009's filings with the Secretary of State show that Newsom has about $1.2 million to work with while Brown has about $7.3 million for his campaign, currently for another run at Attorney General. However, if Brown decides to run for Governor, that money goes with him. Newsom is the only major Democratic candidate so far in the 2010 gubernatorial race.

Now that the Los Angeles Marathon is back on a Sunday in March--the 21st to be exact--the new "Stadium to Sea" route is being hashed out. Under current Santa Monica law, only 5K and 10Ks are permitted, but on Tuesday the City Council instructed staff "to return with an ordinance or policy change that would allow marathons to be held in the city," according to the Santa Monica Daily Press.

The campaign for Chris Essel for Council District 2 has been gearing up for a big announcement this morning, but the LA Times scooped away what the press conference was supposed to announce later this morning. “In both the private and public sectors, Christine Essel has proven that she has the skills and the commitment to get the job done,” Riordan will say, according to a statement obtained by the Times. Essel has served Los Angeles as a mayoral appointee on several difference occasions. She was on the board of the Community Redevelopment Agency during the Bradley and Riordan administrations and on the Board of Airport Commissioners under Villaraigosa as well as the California Film Commission and the California Workforce Investment Board.

All things gubernatorial seem to be Gavin, Gavin, Gavin these days. At least for the Democrats. Where's Jerry Brown? Will there even be a primary? Gavin has been to the Los Angeles area on a regular basis hosting town hall style meetings and today he's back, this time in South LA. Tonight's event is open to the public and is a "Conversation About California’s Future."

Wesley Korir of Kenya won today's LA Marathon, beating the race's record from 2006. His 2:08:24 finishing time beat the previous record of 2:08:40 by 24 seconds, according to the LA Times. In the women's race, Tatiana Petrova of Russia won finishing at 2:25:29, also a record with the third-fastest time.

The LA Marathon has been happening since 7:20 this morning, but with miles to go and thousands of runners and spectators, the route is going to make getting around town a bit challenging for many today. So before you head out, double check the route map to see if you need to rethink your own route, or, if you want to help cheer people on, check out the Spectator's Guide to see where the bands, the cheerleaders, and the broadcasters will be gathered.

It's frowned upon for police chiefs to endorse candidates during campaigns. But so far, Chief William Bratton has endorsed candidates appearing on next Tuesday's ballot, including City Attorney hopeful Jack Weiss. “If Weiss gets in, he is going to owe Bratton,” warned former Chief Daryl Gates in an LA Weekly story by Daniel Heimpel today. That would be a "real problem since one of the city attorney’s purported jobs is to rout out corrupt cops, including police brass," the Weekly notes.

The City Council may have learned their lesson by forcing LA Marathon organizers to a Monday holiday rather than the traditional Sunday. Today a council committee voted to hold the 2010 marathon on a Sunday in March. This year, it will be held on Memorial Day, which has not been good participation or the health of runners who choose to run on the traditionally hot day. It will next go to the full council for approval.

The famous track is in bankruptcy and going on the auction block next September. So just in case you're interested in buying it, you should know developer Rick Caruso of The Grove and Americana fame, is rumored to wanting it for himself. Considering he already has stake in the track's north parking lot--a $500 million, 820,000-square foot "The Shops at Santa Anita" currently in the Environmental Review process--it would make sense, but you never know.

A motion introduced by three City Councilmembers today will lift a ban that forced the Los Angeles Marathon this year to be held on a Monday holiday instead of a Sunday to avoid conflicts with religious groups. With not many choices at hand, Marathon organizers went with Memorial Day, which predictably proved difficult with low participation, limited broadcast availability and complaints from runners.

Last November, the Pasadena Marathon was all set to have its inaugural run, but Mother Nature had other plans, leading to the event's false start. SoCal's air was saturated with smoke and ash from the Triangle and Sayre fires, and the race was canceled the night before. But tomorrow the race is on again, and about 2,000 folks are expected to participate in the marathon, which will cover the requisite 26.2 miles beginning and ending at Pasadena City College. The day will also include a half marathon, bike tour, 5k race, and a fun run/walk. If you live in, or are headed to Pasadena, be advised there will be street closures in effect; check here for details.

              

The Tour of California's 750-mile route through the state took nine days and drew an estimated two million fans. And most appropriately a California native, Levi Leipheimer, won it for the third consecutive time in the tour's four-year history (Floyd Landis, also from California, won the first tour) with teammate Lance Armstrong making his first U.S. comeback and placing seventh overall.

           

Yesterday's 88-mile stage whipped from Santa Clarita through and over the San Grabriel Mountains in the Angeles National Forest to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Californian Levi Leipheimer kept his overall lead while teammate Lance Armstrong dropped down to 6th place.

Two-time defending champion of the Tour of California, Levi Leipheimer won Friday's 15-mile time trial from Solvang through the Santa Ynez Valley and back, helping inching him closer to a third victory. Now in a lead of 36 seconds, all eyes are on him.

     

For the second day in a row, 23-year-old Mark Cavendish of Britain won yesterday's stage, a 134-mile route from Visalia to Paso Robles, mostly on the San Joaquin Valley floor.

       

Overall, the Tour of California's fourth stage--115 miles from Merced to Clovis--was much better when it came to the weather yesterday (sunny and snow covered mountains!). But with three days of straight cold rain, organizers and bicyclists are considering changing the dates to later in the year.

              

The Tour of California exemplified the state's beauty yesterday, running 116 miles from Sausalito to Santa Cruz over the Golden Gate Bridge, along the ocean (close enough for waves to spray riders) and through redwood tree lined arteries. "This was certainly a great showcase for two iconic locations in the state of California," said Andrew Messick, president, AEG Sports, referring to the bridge and the finish line in Santa Cruz, both which are firsts for the race.

Oh, awkward turtle! Upland city councilmember Ray Musser was describing his inauguration trip experience to the public when he said some uncomfortable things. By looking at the video posted on LA Times, it even appears that he pre-wrote this: "I came away just appreciating America. A tremdendous change, we're headed for changes that we might even be somewhat scared or frighetned of, however, the change in the crowd was completely different than four years ago. There was a lot of non-whites in the crowd well behaved and that was so gratifying..." Now the Mayor and other councilmembers want him ousted.

Last Fall, the ACLU released a study based on post-stop actions of its officers on 810,000 field data reports completed by LAPD officers nearly every time they stopped a vehicle or pedestrian between July 1, 2003 and June 30, 2004. They concluded that black and Hispanic residents are stopped, frisked, searched and arrested by LAPD officers far more frequently than white residents.

Santa Clarita, the city off the 5 freeway that claims home to Magic Mountain, is a family-oriented community with a mile-wide red streak in a decidedly blue state. And there’s definitely another divide between race and class in the area -- and it turns unseemly every once in awhile. Here’s one of those occasions.

This is what happens when you let politicians dictate how to organize a sporting event. In September, the City Council mandated that the Los Angeles Marathon change from a Sunday to a holiday Monday, citing "complaints from religious leaders, who blamed race-day road closures and traffic congestion for making it difficult for their congregations to get to church," according to the LA Times.

The latest Field Poll on nine potential Gubernatorial candidates for the 2010 race includes LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. The poll asked registered voters in California about their impressions of the possible state leaders. "U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein is the best known and most favorably viewed among registered Democrats," the SacBee says, also finding that "on the Republican side, former eBay CEO Meg Whitman draws no opinion from more than two-thirds of GOP voters." For Villaraigosa, it's a tie: about a third of people find him favorable, another third find him unfavorable and the remaining have no opinion (interesting: high unfavorable rankings from those who are married). He says he's not running for Governor.

If baseball was not enough, Dodgers owner Frank McCourt has bought the rights to the Los Angeles Marathon through a company called Going The Distance. While the race route will not be changed this year, the race date will be changed from March 1 (as it is currently listed on their website) to February 16 on President's Day.

As of 8:30 this morning the last wave of starts for the 9th Annual Los Angeles Triathlon took off, completing the waves that began at 6:45 a.m. The participants will swim one mile starting at Venice Beach, do a 25 mile bike race through parts of Fairfax, Wilshire and Hollywood, and end with a 10 kilometer run that terminates at Staples Center. Street closure began over night, and some will not reopen until early this afternoon, so if you're headed out this morning, be sure to check the map to make sure your path doesn't cross that of the 2,500 triathlon participants.