LOS ANGELES — With the LA 2028 Summer Olympics on the horizon, the 2024 Los Angeles Marathon is beginning to draw Olympic hopefuls like 27-year-old Makena Morley from Bozeman, Montana, who want to get a head start on their competition.
Morley did not run in this year’s Paris 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Marathon Trials in Orlando due to an injury in February, so she pivoted to Sunday’s LA Marathon.
“I think it’s pretty cool to be here in LA and experience the streets of LA,” Morley said. “Even though it’s probably going to be a little different course, I’m sure it’s going to hit some of the same areas, so just experiencing racing in the LA will give me a little upper hand maybe to some people when it comes to 2028 here.”
The 26.2-mile marathon course begins at Dodger Stadium and ends in Century City, along the Avenue of the Stars. The race runs through and past iconic landmarks like LA’s Chinatown, Los Angeles Cty Hall, the Disney Concert Hall, West Hollywood and Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.
Ethiopia’s Jemal Yimer won the 2023 men’s marathon in 2 hours, 13 minutes and 13 seconds.
However, this year’s top contenders include Kenya’s Dominic Kipyegon Ngeno, a newcomer to the LA Marathon scene, who comes into the race with a personal best of 2 hours, 7 minutes and 26 seconds at the Eindhoven Marathon in the Netherlands from October 2023.
“I thank God because this is my first time in LA,” Ngeno said. “I believe in myself. I have trained a lot and I will tell the people from this area to come and cheer us on. I believe I am going to win this race.”
The 26-year-old believes he will win the tactical race because he spent most of his training building the endurance necessary to run faster than 2 hours and 10 minutes (pace of 4:57 per mile) on the unsuspectingly hilly course.
“I will try my best,” Ngeno continued. “I will run good and because I know how to run the hills, I saw that this race is very hilly, so I believe we…
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