Marathon Legends at the Expo

How great is this?  Marathon luminaries Ed Eyestone, Nancy Ditz and Rod Dixon just stopped by our office at the Expo.  Nancy won the first two LA Marathons, and all three were here for our press conference today.

Peter

Karno on the road!

As I write this Dean Karnazes is about 60 miles into his 100 mile non-stop run to the LA Marathon.  He's been at it all night, on the way to our Expo from Santa Barbara.  You've got two chances to see this inspirational figure:  On the road this morning on PCH or at our Expo when he arrives around lunch time.  If anyone is out in Malibu, be sure to honk and give him a thumbs up.  If you're at our Expo this afternoon, you'll see Dean finish his run right into the middle of the Convention Center.  How cool is that?  Go Dean Go!

Peter
 

Are you Ridesharing?

Why not?  We've currently got 170 people signed up for our ridesharing program.  Set up by Spaceshare, this great plan allows you to find riders and drivers in your neighborhood.  Then you can arrange to carpool to the Expo, the Race or both.  Make your day more fun, save money and help the planet all at the same time.  We currently need more drivers, so you'll be particularly popular if you offer to drive.  

Peter

Meet the Press

                   Tatyana Petrova

    Nuta Olaru

Laban and Fred

    Yours truly flanked by my new Kenyan friends

Today we hosted six of our elite athletes at a press conference here at the press center.  With our press guru Rich Perelman performing the MC duties, our elite runners spent an hour giving us their take on this year's LA Marathon.  Joining us from the Men's field were Laban Kipkemboi and Fred Mogaka from Kenya, and Tarika Jufar from Ethiopia.  On the Women's side we had Tatyana Petrova and Lyubov Morgunova from Russia alongside Nuta Olaru from Romania.  What struck me first was what a nice group of people they were.  Some spoke with translators and some spoke English, but they all conveyed their sense of respect for this race.  Fred and Laban went so far as to predict a course record if the weather was good!  We also released the exact separation time for The Challenge, which this year will be 16:57.  That's the time between the elite women's start and the men's start.  I'm more excited than ever to watch our elite field battle it out on the streets of LA!

Peter

Game on!

Russell Barnett from Popchips

The Springfield Kids Corner

LA Dodgers pitching booth

Honda's new fuel cell Clarity

Rod Dixon at the Whole Foods Market Stage

The Expo is now open for business.  I may be biased, but the joint is rocking!  The Dodgers have a pitching booth, as well as former players signing autographs and their World Series trophy on display.  The Whole Foods Market Stage is chock full of great speakers, and the Pop Chips Snack Shack is making its debut.  Russ and I spent time this morning walking the floor, and we ran into many friends:  Marathon commentator Toni Reavis,  Bill Logee from Asics, SRLA Executive Director Michelle Fleenor, Brooke Donberg from Clif Bar, the nice folks from Springfield and many others.  We are working hard to live up to our mission statement of inspiring athletes and connecting communities.

Peter 

The Calm Before the Storm

Here are your first shots of our set-up Expo.  Just add participants!  Please make it a point to say Hi to our Staff and Volunteers while you're here this weekend--they've worked VERY hard to make this event a reality.  The space looks great, and we're confident you'll enjoy your visit to Run/Ex/09.

See you on the show floor!

Peter

Visit to Alexandria School with Ethiopian Elite athletes

I was treated to a special experience today, and I wanted to share it with you.  Three of our Ethiopian elite athletes, Mulugeta Wami, Rehima Kedir and Martha Markos, were kind enough to spend their afternoon with the students of Alexandria School, near Beverly and Vermont.  The visit was arranged in conjunction with our Springfield KidsMarathon program, and all of the kids in attendance are currently part of that program.  Rod Dixon was our master of ceremonies, and LA Marathon President Russ Pillar was there to speak to everyone as well.  Our good friend Iyob from the LA Roadrunners served as the translator--there are 140 Ethiopian dialects!  After leading the kids in some stretches, our guests from Africa led the students on several laps of the school yard.  The afternoon ended with an autograph session, and it was a day the kids won't soon forget.

Peter