John Korir, Natasha Cockram Take 1st Place At LA Marathon's 'Stadium To The Stars'
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Kenyan John Korir and Natasha Cockram of Wales became the first runners to cross the finish line at the 2021 Los Angeles Marathon on Sunday.
Korir completed the 26-mile, 385-yard course in an unofficial time of 2:12:47 while Cockram crossed the finish line at 2:33:16.
The race's "Stadium to the Stars" course debuted with runners ending in Century City, as opposed to the Santa Monica Pier, a change that left some uneasy.
"It's the worst. The best part of the course were the last three miles were straight downhill. You end on Ocean Boulevard at the Santa Monica Pier. It's glorious. You've got people on the sides, you have the ocean. And it's downhill," said one runner. "If you look at the course, you look at the elevation, you turn around, you go uphill in Century City and then there is no downhill."
Prior to, the race was run on the "Stadium to the Sea" course from Dodger Stadium to near the Santa Monica Pier from 2010-2020.
The change was made because "the dramatically increased costs quoted by the city of Santa Monica for the 2021 running of the marathon, and future events, made remaining in Santa Monica financially infeasible," the McCourt Foundation, which conducts the race, said in July 2020 when it announced the switch, according to City News Service.
Street closures are expected in and around the race course for much of the day.
To see course closures, click here.
For street closures, click here.
For freeway closures, click here.
