Elites in the house!

In case you're not aware, we have quietly assembled a very solid elite field in both the Men's and Women's divisions of the LA Marathon. In fact, as I write this the runners are traveling in from all over the world. They're all competing for $250,000 in prize money, and once again we have the Challenge in place. That's where the elite women take off with a head start over the elite men. The men then start running with the full field and try to catch the women. The first runner--man or woman--to cross the line wins the $100,000 bonus. The Challenge creates a race within the race, and it adds tremendously to the excitement of the event. The men's field includes former 5000 meter world champion Benjamin LImo from Kenya as well as his compatriots Fred Mogaka and Moses Kororia. Among the women, the fastest time belongs to Romanian Nuta Olaro. And she'll be challenged by Russians Lyubov Morgunova and Tatiana Petrova. You can check out the full field here.

Peter

WIN exclusive prizes for the LA Marathon from L.A. LIVE!

The LA Marathon 5K Run is starting at L.A. LIVE – Los Angeles’ new sports, entertainment and dining destination. Enter to WIN tickets to concerts, events and the GRAMMY Museum plus gift certificates for dining, bowling, and more! Click here to enter!

Dean Karnazes to Run 100 Miles BEFORE the Marathon!

Dean Karnazes will be running down to the LA Marathon Expo on Sunday, May 24 100 miles non-stop from Santa Barbara. And THEN he’s going to wake up on Monday and run the marathon with you guys! He’s an inspirational figure, for sure, and may be on hand at the Expo on Sunay afternoon to share share stories from his journey on the Whole Foods Market Stage. Check out the video we shot with him.

It's Twitter Time

For those of you following us on Twitter, we’ll be posting a lot of updates over the next week. Julia Tock and I will both be Twittering from the Expo and live on race day. Please follow along with us. If you’ll be Twittering in parallel, then feel free to use the #lamarathon hashtag. In addition, Marty Church will be posting Acura LA Bike Tour updates, along with Sarah Gallagher from ThinkCure! In the meantime, here are some of our partners' Twitter accounts--follow them as well!

@lamarathon
@labiketour
@wholefoods
@ThinkCure
@popchips
@healthebay
@deankarnazes

Peter

Staff Meeting at the Finish Line

On Sunday afternoon the LA Marathon staff met next to the finish line to review our game plan for race day.  Under the capable guidance of Race Director Nick Curl, we ran through some scenarios and introduced everyone.  There are a number of us, myself included, who haven't worked on an LA Marathon before.  And it's important that we're all clear on who everyone is and what they're doing on race day.  These are exciting times at HQ:  we're on final approach and everyone is working long hours to make sure the event goes off without a hitch.  I hope you're as psyched as we are!

Peter

This is How We Roll

For the next week or so I'll be driving around LA in this sweet custom-wrapped Honda Accord.  It's decked out in the Shag artwork you've seen on our shirts and advertising.  If you happen to see me, flag me down for a sticker.  Or at least honk and wave.  Thanks again to our partners at Honda!

Peter

Top Ten Fridays--Favorite Night Before Meal Results!

Food! Undoubtedly a marathoner's favorite topic of discussion. Here is a rundown of your top ten categories of food/types of meals.

1. Pasta (no surprise this is #1!)
2. Noodles (Pho, Udon, Soba, Pad Thai)
3. Chicken and veggies (with a special shoutout to mashed potatoes on the side)
4. Cereal
5. Various sandwiches
6. Fruit
7. Smoothies/Protein shakes
8. Lots of yummy desserts mentioned (you guys love chocolate!)
9. Nothing (too nervous/excited)
10. Soup

Have a great weekend and get psyched--only 9 days to go!