And They're Off! 25K Runners Take Off As LA Marathon Kicks Off At Dodger Stadium

ELYSIAN PARK (CBSLA) — More than 25,000 runners took off early Sunday morning as the 33rd annual Los Angeles Marathon got underway in Elysian Park.

The 26.2-mile trek runs through downtown Los Angeles, then heads west through Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Brentwood, and Pacific Palisades with the finish line in Santa Monica.

This year, the course skipped Little Tokyo and instead went down Los Angeles Street.

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Among the runners were more than 3,000 students from 182 schools from around L.A. as part of the group, Students Run LA.

The winning race time for the men, a very impressive 2 hours, 11 minutes, 49 seconds.  The top female came in at an equally impressive 2 hours, 33 minutes, 49 seconds.

CBS2's Laurie Perez spoke to runners including Mike Lee of Rancho Palos Verdes who was not looking for a personal best.

"Weather was really cool, it's beautiful. I've been through like rain storms and heat but this one was like the best weather by far," Lee said.

Not all of the more than 25,000 racers were running for time -- some were running for a purpose -- like sisters Jackie and Karla Solano of Palmdale. Last year Karla helped push Jackie the 26.2 miles in a wheelchair as Jackie battled breast cancer. Now she's in remission and they planned to run side by side, some of it, in tears.

"Oh, every mile, every mile cause I'm not running it just for myself, redemption, but I'm doing it for all cancer patients, all survivors and anyone that we've lost," said Jackie.

"I kept her going even if it was just for one mile walks but I always kept her moving," said Karla.