“It’s the healing of the city.”
That’s how LA Marathon television broadcaster Toni Reavis described Sunday’s, coming weeks after January’s deadly L.A. County wildfires.
The 40th edition of the race was dedicated to the first responders who worked for weeks to put out the devastating blazes.
“The marathon has always shown up on the calendar at just the right time to help bind the city,” said Reavis, “when it’s had floods, public uprising after the Rodney King incident in 1992, the fires this year. This is a chance for LA to come together and dispose of all the differences that people have and be drawn together by our common humanity. The marathon does that like nothing else.”
U.S. Forest Service Capt. Jerry Garcia, who helped battle the Eaton Fire, co-paced the group of runners who hoped to complete the marathon in two hours, 55 minutes.
“I guarantee that 90% of the runners in the marathon probably know somebody who lost their home or was personally impacted,” Garcia said in a statement. “When they asked me to pace, I knew it could be about helping runners and being part of an event that will be about the Los Angeles community. I’m grateful for the opportunity.”
The 47-year-old Palmdale resident was the top runner in the 45-49 age group in the 2024 Los Angeles Marathon with a personal best time of 2:40:13. He won the 2017 Angeles Crest 100 trail running race.
Another firefighter in the field was L.A. firefighter Greg Balandran, running on behalf of the Widows, Orphans and Disabled Firefighters Fund, the official charity of the L.A. Firemen’s Relief Association.
Shortly after the wildfires erupted, the fund began providing long-term support for the more than two dozen LAFD firefighters and their families who lost homes or were displaced
The L.A. Marathon, New York Road Runners, the nonprofit organization that produces the New York City Marathon, the Chicago Marathon, and the Boston Athletic Association, organizers of the Boston Marathon, came together to support Together LA, an initiative spearheaded by The McCourt Foundation, which owns and operates the L.A. race, to aid those affected by the Los Angeles County wildfires.
The four organizations co-branded limited-edition Together LA merchandise, with all net proceeds benefiting Community Organized Relief Effort and the California Fire Foundation. These funds will provide emergency relief, assist displaced families and support long-term recovery efforts.
Crews were on hand to pick up after the runners, who left behind scattered mounds of sweaters, blankets, water bottles and banana peels. Organizers said discarded clothing would be gathered up and donated to wildfire victims.
City News Service contributed to this report