By Daily Press staff
With a professional field of almost 60 international athletes competing for a portion of the $417,600 prize purse — the largest in the race’s history — the upcoming Los Angeles Marathon looks to be the most competitive in its 21-year history.
The field will be led by defending champions Mark Saina from Kenya and Lyubov Denisova from Russia who will be returning for a rematch in the Banco Popular Challenge. In 2005, Saina passed Denisova in the 26th mile to win his first major marathon in 2:09:35 after he made up the 15:50 headstart awarded the women as part of “The Challenge.”
Denisova handily won the women’s division and set the course record of 2:26:11. At stake this year is $100,000 for the Banco Popular Challenge winner, up from $75,000 in 2005 and $50,000 in its inaugural year 2004. The time differential for 2006 will be announced on Friday.
Other leading candidates in the men’s field are Kenyans Robert Kiprotich Cheruiyot, Laban Kipkemboi and Benson Cherono.
A stellar group of female athletes will be competing against the men for the $100,000 bonus in the Banco Popular Challenge. The field is led by Ethiopian Gete Wami, who has won Olympic medals at 5,000 meters (bronze, 2000) and 10,000 meters, (bronze, 1996; silver, 2000) and is the Ethiopian marathon record holder (2:22:19, Amsterdam 2002). Also joining the field is Russian Lidiya Grigoryeva and Mexican Madai Perez.
In total, the L.A. Marathon will be offering a prize purse of $417,600. The first person to cross the finish line will receive the $100,000 Banco Popular Challenge bonus, as well as a $35,000 cash prize and a Honda Accord EX-V6 for being first in his or her division, making it the largest guaranteed first place payout in the United States. A total of $23,000 also will be available to the top American and Californian finishers.
A complete listing of the 2006 elite athlete field is available at www.lamarathon.com.
The marathon will take place the weekend of March 17-19, with the run beginning at 8:15 a.m. Sunday, March 19, 2006. The weekend’s activities include the two-day Emerald Nuts Quality of Life Expo taking place on March 17 and 18 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, the Acura L.A. Bike Tour and the Emerald Nuts 5k Run/Walk. The race will be broadcast live on NBC 4 at 7:30 a.m. and on Telemundo 52. The Los Angeles Marathon is the largest marathon held in California, the fourth largest in the country and the seventh largest in the world. It is expected to draw more than 25,000 runners from 50 states and 100 countries in 2006. In total, event day will include more than 45,000 participants.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 14, 2006. Read the original PDF.