LA Marathon Photo Safari

With 25,000 participants and 3 separate events, this year's LA Marathon is a tough assignment for a photographer.  But it's also an exciting one.  There are so many opportunities to capture the drama, excitement and community that make up the LA Marathon, it's almost overwhelming.  To adequately cover all the stories happening on race day takes an enormous amount of preparation, and this week I'm spending a lot of time with our key photographer, Christopher Wray-McCann.  I'll need photos for the press, for our own internal usage, and for all sorts of interactive stuff.  Over lunch the other day Christopher and I discussed a general approach to the LA Marathon.  We talked a lot about giving the race a point-of-view; imbuing our photography with a sense of purpose.  We want to distill the essence of this particular event down to some expressive and compelling images.  How can we capture our mission statement (inspiring athletes and connecting communities) in a picture?  That's what I'm after.

Today, Christopher, his assistant Melissa and I spent a couple hours driving circles around the start/finish area scouting for the best camera angles.  We also climbed onto the roof of a building to check out a soaring aerial perspective.  We'll meet again on Sunday to do a final walk-through of our minute-by-minute plan for race day.  Monday is going to be a very fun day, and if you see Christopher running around with a camera, feel free to give him a shout.  Appreciate all the preparation that goes into getting great imagery.  We'll show you the results next week.

Peter

ACURA LA Bike Tour Final Instructions are Posted!

The final instructions are posted for the ACURA LA Bike Tour. Click here for answers to virtually all of your race day questions.

Julia

Runners High

A couple years ago, before I ever knew I'd be working on the LA Marathon, my friend Glenn Bulycz at Apple Computer recommended a terrific film called Runners High. It tells the story of a group of high school kids from Oakland who trained for and ran the LA Marathon in 2005. The film is full of the kind of real-life stories I've witnessed with our own SRLA kids. I would urge any runner, or anyone who loves a good story, to see this film. As luck would have it, Justine Jacob, one of the directors of the film, has set up two Runners High screenings in Echo Park on Sunday afternoon. Both shows will benefit Students Run Oakland and Students Run LA. Why not pick up your stuff at the Expo Sunday and then make a short 15-minute trip to see this powerful film? I hope you can make this event and support two important organizations that are empowering youth and improving communities.

Runners High will be screening at the Echo Park Film Center on
Sunday, March 24th at 4pm and 6pm.



Peter

Great weather forecast

When I was racing a lot, I would obsessively check weather forecasts well in advance of any event. And I still do. So I'm happy to report that Monday's forecast looks stellar: A low of 55 degrees and a high of 71. This means that most of you will spend the majority of your marathon running in temps somewhere in the 60's. That's great news, and now you can focus on running the great race you'd imagined.

I can't wait to see some shivering runners at the start!

Peter

Race Day Tracking

Raise your hand if you want to follow someone who's running the LA Marathon. It could be one of our elites, or a good friend, or perhaps Uncle Jerry. Maybe you want to see how fast Dean Karnazes can run a marathon after having run 100 miles just to get to the race. Anyway, we have the tool for you, which is our race day tracking feature. You can sign up to get updates via text or email while runners are on the course. How cool is that? I hope many of you take advantage of this technology to follow family & friends while they complete their tour of LA on Monday.

Peter

Friend us, please...

We started a Facebook page, and we're nearly at 1,000 friends. Let's get over that hump before race day. And it's not only because I like the sound of having 1,000 Facebook friends. The page is also a place where I'm increasingly answering questions about the LA Marathon. It's become a valuable forum for information about the race. So feel free to use it, share ideas, ask questions, or just hang out. See you there!

Peter

Last Minute Nutrition Tip from New Performance Nutrition

The big day is almost here, and our friends at New Performance Nutrition want to give you some last minute tips for the race.

On Saturday, make sure you are drinking between 1/2 ounce to 1 ounce of water per pound of body weight throughout the day. Spread out your water consumption evenly throughout day... this prevents frequent trips at night to the bathroom, which interrupts sleep. In addition to adequate hydration, you need a good night’s sleep. Try to get a solid 8 hours of sleep the few nights before your race. Combine your water intake with three main meals and three snacks. Your nutritional intake for the day should be broken down between 50-60% complex carbohydrates with the balance being divided equally between protein and fats. Snacks should be simple, like a serving of nuts (10 grams of fat) and a serving of fruit (20-25 grams of carbs). Keep your main meals balanced with half of your menu being carbs, 1/4 veggies and 1/4protein. Don't try to eat huge dinners loaded with carbs, as this creates too much waste.


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On Sunday, the day before the race, make sure you bump up your water intake to 1 ounce of water per pound of body weight. Your muscle tissue is 70% water and your total body water volume is 75%. Just do it!!! Add two packs of electrolytes to your water regime the last day to ensure you are ready for the big race. The day before the marathon is where you get to eat 70% complex carbohydrates, spread out evenly. Contrary to popular belief, eating a huge pasta dinner the night before your marathon, is not the ideal...it will just make you sluggish, tired and give you a horrible night sleep. You want 3/4 of your meals on this day to be complex carbs and the remaining 1/4 is to be protein with some fat.

Race Day is here! Wake up and have a small snack if you are a super early riser. Then have between 1 cup - 2 cups of a cooked cereal (oatmeal, cream of rice, cream of wheat) depending on your size. Add in 2 tablespoons of your favorite peanut butter for some protein. Try to eat this between 1-1.5 hours pre-race and bring an energy bar just in case you get hungry before the race. You may only take a few bites but that's OK, at least you’ll have it.

Good luck to all my Marathoners,


Matt


Notes:
Fat = 9 calories per gram
Protein = 4 calories per gram
All carbohydrates = 4 calories per gram