2016 Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon Media Guide
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
2016 Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon Media Guide Important Media Information 3 Race Week Schedule 4 About the Race 7 8 Legacy Runners The Course 10 History 25 Logistics 32 On Course Entertainment 37 Media Coverage 43 LA BIG 5K 44 Professional Field 46 Race Records 52 Charities 67 Partners & Sponsors 72 Marathon Staff 78 2017 Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon Media Guide Media Contacts Carsten Preisz Jolene Abbott VP, Brand Strategy and Marketing Executive Director, Public Relations Conqur Endurance Group Skechers Performance 805.218.7612 310.318.3100 [email protected] [email protected] Molly Biddiscombe Kerry Hendry Account Supervisor Vice President Ketchum Sports & Entertainment Ketchum Sports & Entertainment 860-539-2492 404-275-0090 [email protected] [email protected] Finish Line Media Center Media Credential Pickup Fairmont Hotel LA Convention Center Wedgewood Ballroom West Hall, Room 510 101 Wilshire Blvd 1201 S. Figueroa Street Santa Monica, CA Los Angeles, CA 90015 310-899-4136 Friday, March 17: 10:30 am – 5 pm Saturday, March 18: 9 am – 2 pm Press Conference Schedule Fairmont Hotel Friday, Wedgewood Ballroom 8:00 am Sunday 6:00 am to 3:00 pm ‘Meet the Elites’ Event, Griffith Park Top athletes, Conqur CEO Tracey Russell Social 11:00 am Pages Website: www.lamarathon.com Pre-race Press Conference, LA Convention Center, West Hall, Room510 www.goconqur.com Top athletes Facebook: facebook.com/LAmarathon Instagram: @lamarathon Sunday, Twitter: @lamarathon 10:00 am Snapchat: @lamarathon Champions Press Conference, Fairmont Hotel Top three male and female finishers and wheelchair winners. 2017 Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon Media Guide Friday March 17 8:00 am Meet the Elites Griffith Park 10:00 am – 7:00 pm Health & Fitness Expo LA Convention Center, West Hall 10:30 am - 5:00 pm Credential Pickup LA Convention Center, West Hall, Room 510 11:00 am Press Conference LA Convention Center, West Hall, Room 510 Saturday March 18 8:00 am LA BIG 5K Dodger Stadium 9:00 am – 2:00 pm Credential Pickup LA Convention Center, West Hall, Room 510 9:00 am - 5:00 pm Health & Fitness Expo Los Angeles Convention Center Sunday March 19 6:30 am Wheelchair Start Dodger Stadium 6:42 am Handcycle Start Dodger Stadium 6:45 am Professional Women Start Dodger Stadium 6:55 am Professional Men and rest of the field Start Dodger Stadium 8:00 am 1st Place Male Wheelchair Finish (estimated) California & Ocean Ave 8:25 am 1st Place Female Wheelchair Finish (estimated) California & Ocean Ave 9:05 am 1st Place Male Marathon Finish (estimated) California & Ocean Ave 9:10 am 1st Place Female Marathon Finish (estimated) California & Ocean Ave 9:30 am Champions Awards Ceremony Finish Line Awards Stage 10:00 am Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon Champions Press Conference 9:00 am – 3:00 pm Finish Line Festival & Angel City Brewery Beer Garden Second St & Santa Monica 2017 Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon Media Guide 2016 Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon Champions Open Men: Weldon Kirui- 2:13:06 -Kenya Open Women: Nataliya Lehonkova - 2:30:10 -Ukraine Wheelchair Men: James Senbeta 1:36:08 -USA Wheelchair Women: Alicia Ibarra 2:15:52 -USA Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon Race Records Open Men: Markos Geneti- 2:06:35 –Ethiopia (2011) Open Women: Lidiya Grigoryeva- 2:25:10 –Russia (2006) Wheelchair Men: Kurt Fearnley- 1:23:40 –Australia (2007) Wheelchair Women: Amanda McGrory- 1:48:13 –USA (2009) 2017 Numbers: Legacy Runners: 163 Number of States Represented: 50 Number of Countries Represented: 63 Charities: 95 SRLA Students: 3,000 Cheer zones: 50+ Cheerleaders: 500+ Bands: 50+ Media Coverage: Media coverage of the race extends worldwide, on multiple platforms: Live local television broadcast on KTLA (Ch. 5) from 6:00 am -11:00 am PDT. Live national television broadcast on WGN from 7-10 am PDT. Live streaming of the race broadcast on www.KTLA.com Fast Facts: This is Skechers Performance’s second year as Title Partner of the marathon. Skechers Performance is a global company headquartered locally, in Manhattan Beach. With sponsored athletes including Meb Keflezighi and Kara Goucher, they are on the forefront of running. The race will follow the iconic Stadium to the Sea course that starts at Dodger Stadium and passes through West Hollywood and Beverly Hills before finishing in the City of Santa Monica. The race concludes at the intersection of Ocean and California avenues, just steps from the Pacific Ocean. The course features a host of local landmarks, such as Los Angeles City Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, TCL Chinese Theater, the Sunset Strip, Rodeo Drive and a finish near the Santa Monica Pier. A total prize purse of $100,000 in cash will be offered to both the men’s and women’s fields at the Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon, with $23,000 for first place, $11,250 for second, $9,000 for third, $4,500 for fourth and $2,250 for fifth in each division. 2017 Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon Media Guide The men’s professional field features the last two Los Angeles Marathon champions, the 2015 winner Daniel Limo (KEN) and the returning Weldon Kirui (KEN). The front runners in the women’s field are expected to be Mestawet Tufa (ETH) and Biruktayit Degefa (ETH). 95 official charities are participating in this year’s race. For the sixth year in a row, runners can join together in support of their favorite charity by participating in the Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon Two-Person Charity Relay. The relay allows one person to run the first half of the marathon while their partner completes the race. Each relay runner will register and raise money for one of the marathon’s official charities. Entertainment planned for the 26.2-mile course includes 50 bands, 500+ cheerleaders, four entertainment centers and over 50 charity cheer zones. This year, the Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon introduced the third edition of its smartphone app. The official race app powered by Fitbit provides users tools like runner tracking, interactive maps and this year added a music player with three unique, curated playlists designed to motivate athletes during training and on race day. Save the date! Next year’s Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon will be on March 18, 2018. 2017 Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon Media Guide ABOUT THE SKECHERS PERFORMANCE LOS ANGELES MARATHON “Stadium to the Sea.” Say just those four words, and runners across the world will immediately know what you’re referring to: the iconic course of the Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon, which is set for its 32st edition on March 19, 2017. Frank McCourt purchased the operating rights to the race in 2008, which continues to be one of the four largest marathons in the U.S. and one of the top 10 worldwide. Soon afterward, he asked his team to devise a course that would show off the very best of Los Angeles. Working with public officials and community stakeholders, the “Stadium to the Sea” course was born. The course begins at Dodger Stadium and continues through downtown LA, across West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and ending in Santa Monica. At each mile along the way, runners will pass several internationally renowned iconic landmarks, starting at Dodger Stadium and including Chinatown, the El Pueblo de Los Angeles State Historic Park, Los Angeles City Hall, Little Tokyo, the Disney Hall and Music Center of Los Angeles County, four different sites of the Academy Awards in Hollywood, parts of Historic Route 66 in West Hollywood, Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, and the famous runner’s mecca of San Vicente Boulevard in Santa Monica before finishing on Ocean Avenue alongside the Pacific Ocean. A field of over 24,000 runners are expected on race day. They’ll run the Stadium to the Sea course behind an elite field of foreign runners coming from as far as Spain, Mexico, and Kenya. Once again, the race offers the opportunity for entrants and their supporters to raise funds for one of the 95 worthy charities affiliated with the Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon. An exciting schedule has been prepared for the weekend, featuring the following: The Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon Health & Fitness Expo will be held in the West Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center in Downtown L.A. on Friday, March 17 and Saturday, March 18. More than 120 exhibitors from around the country will be present. The LA BIG 5K, sponsored by Big 5 Sporting Goods, will take place at Dodger Stadium on Saturday, March 18, offering athletes of all ages an opportunity to take part in race week festivities. KTLA 5 will air the race live in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 am. For the second year, WGN will televise the race live nationally from 7:00 am to 10:00 am PDT. More than 3,200 students will be participating in this year’s Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon as a part of Students Run LA (SRLA), an after-school mentoring and physical fitness program for at-risk middle and high school students in Los Angeles. Through the program, students learn how discipline and perseverance lead to success in the marathon and in life. More than 60,000 students have participated in the program since its inception in 1987, with over 95 percent of SRLA starters finishing the race. 2017 Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon Media Guide An impressive 163 Legacy Runners—men and women who have completed all 31 prior editions of the race— will step to the line in 2017. This year, Gerard Deegan led the LA Road Runners, the official training program of the Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon.