Santa Monica police and fire officials as well as city public works employees are scheduled to be on duty for the LA Marathon as event organizers plan for potential heat-related issues on a day that is expected to see high temperatures rise above 80 degrees.
Organizers announced this week that runners will begin their 26.2-mile journey across Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium at 6:55 a.m. Sunday, half an hour earlier than originally scheduled, to avoid the hottest part of the day.
Some 26,000 participants will head west in staggered waves to Santa Monica, where local authorities will play major roles in operations, safety and medical aid.
All but two Santa Monica Fire Department employees who are not working regular shifts — about 125 people — are assigned to the marathon, Deputy Chief Tom Clemo said.
The local fire department has also ordered supplementary personnel and equipment from AmeriCare Ambulance and the Los Angeles city and county fire departments, Clemo said.
"We have our normal on-duty staffing in place, and we don't assign any of those folks — so we don't degrade our (regular) coverage at all," he said. "We subsidize the coverage in the event zone ... We're just one little cog in this wheel."
The Santa Monica Police Department will have 198 employees working the marathon, Sgt. Rudy Camarena said. Their responsibilities range from crowd and traffic control to running a command center with the fire department.
Public Works will have about 80 people in the field to assist with street maintenance, traffic control, trash collection, equipment setup and custodial services, according to interim director Susan Cline.
"We are working to ensure that the route is clear of any hazards prior to the event and kept clean during and after the race," she said.
Public Works will also have an additional 10 staffers at incident command posts and three at the emergency operations center, Cline said.
Local authorities have been preparing for the marathon for several months. Fire, police and public works officials have worked together on a formal written action plan, which Clemo said is typically revisited after the event to discuss potential changes for the following year.
The plan includes strategies for dealing with a variety of weather conditions as well as ways to ensure public safety, which was a major concern following the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013.
This year, officials will be paying close attention to heat-related problems that may arise. Heat was also a factor during last year's LA Marathon.
"We've added resources — people and equipment — to address the potential large number of patients that we will have," Clemo said. "We had 300 patients in Santa Monica last year, and we learned a lot from that.
"Our goal is to treat and release so we don't saturate the hospital — that's why we have so many medical personnel in the finish-line area."
In addition to patient care, local agency officials will be involved in race logistics. They'll be scattered throughout the event, moving resources, tracking costs and assisting with operations.
Preparations came as race organizers issued a weather advisory Monday, when participants flooded the marathon's Facebook page with comments, many of them urging organizers to start the race earlier in the morning.
"We appreciate the passionate responses and appreciation for our efforts to ensure your safety," race officials said. "Rest assured, we are doing everything we can."
The decision to start the race a half hour earlier was announced Tuesday. Officials said the race couldn't start even earlier because of the complexity of the event, which involves numerous agencies, first responders and volunteers as well as street closures across Los Angeles.
Contact Jeff Goodman at 310-573-8351, jeff@www.smdp.com or on Twitter.
