Palos Verdes Half Marathon back on after organizers initially pull plug on decades-old run
By Megan Barnes, megan.barnes@langnews.com | POSTED:
Marathon and half marathon runners conquer the first hill at the start of the race in the 45th annual Palos Verdes Marathon on May 14, 2011. Steve McCrank — Daily Breeze Staff photographer, File
Runners can lace up their shoes and tackle the Hill now that the Palos Verdes Marathon is back on with financial help from Lexus.
The Kiwanis Club — which began putting on the event in the 1960s to unite the cities of the Palos Verdes Peninsula — announced earlier this year that an additional $6,500 in law enforcement and traffic control costs had forced it to pull the plug on the race altogether.
Indeed, the event has struggled recently. Two years ago an increase in city fees forced organizers to shorten the country’s second-oldest continuously run marathon to a half marathon.
The race, known for decades as one of the most visually stunning — and topographically challenging — runs in Southern California, had already been moving in that direction. More participants were opting for a 5K and half marathon. And because the steep hills of the race added length to finishing times — numbers used to qualify runners for bigger races such as the Boston Marathon — the full marathon wasn’t a big draw for elite runners.
Word of this year’s cancellation spread in the running community, eventually reaching Becky Hall, a race director for promoter Mountain Sports International. Lexus was putting together a series of runsthis fall and she thought Palos Verdes’ coastal, all-ages race would be a perfect fit.
“It’s a beautiful course and the history of the event is really cool,” she said. “With everything Kiwanis has done with this event in 48 years, it would have been really sad to see it go.”
The race, still scheduled for Nov. 15, has been reincarnated as the Lexus LaceUp Running Series Presented by Equinox Palos Verdes Half Marathon. This year’s race will feature a 10K route in addition to the half marathon and 5K.
Lexus is underwriting the costs of the event and hopes to raise $10,000 to $25,000 for both the Kiwanis Club and nonprofit Back on My Feet Los Angeles, which helps those who are homeless get back to independent living.
The race is one of the biggest fundraisers for Kiwanis’ student scholarships every year, according to John Williams, who has chaired the event for the past two decades.
“It just got to be too much for us to cover, so Lexus really saved our bacon,” he said. “We would have gotten zero out of this, otherwise.”
Bonuses this year include free T-shirts, medals and a post-run brunch and Sierra Nevada beer. Chip timing — in which computer chips worn by runners track performance — will provide real-time results on monitors set up for spectators as well as an app for smartphones.
“Lexus wants to do a first-class event, so they’re adding some embellishments to make it a really nice run,” Williams said.
The half marathon and 10K start at 7 a.m. at Pelican Cove Park in Rancho Palos Verdes, and the 5K starts at 8:30 a.m. The longest route spans Wayfarers Chapel, the Point Vicente Lighthouse, Lunada Bay and the Paseo del Mar bluffs in Palos Verdes Estates. Organizers aim to have 1,200 runners sign up this year (1,000 finished last year), including the 100 who signed up before the race was initially canceled.
“It’s going to be a great run,” Williams said. “There won’t be as many people, so that’s an advantage, I suppose, and the amenities are going to be first-rate.”