The Los Angeles Marathon returned to Santa Monica this week. Tens of thousands of runners and even more friends, family and fans crammed the streets for the big day.
This week, Q-Line asked:
Do you think city officials handled the event properly, or do you have advice for managing the throngs of people next year?
Here are your responses:
"I don't think they should allow the marathon in Santa Monica or by the beach at all. The people who run will run anywhere. So move it to the desert or to an outlying town like Cucamonga. Don't disrupt all of us who live on the Westside. Stop the marathons at the beach."
"Santa Monica's got a world-class reputation. So, I think that the marathon has been handled very well, and brought more notoriety to this lovely city by the sea. … It would be nice to have smoother streets to ride one's wheelchair on."
"My advice would be to run the race somewhere else. Four or five times a year this town [is impacted] by some kind of 10k run, turkey trot, bike-a-thon or walk-a-thons. The closures of streets is a huge disruption of the many for the few. All of these events bring out the usual boosters. The guy in the wheelchair, the woman running for cancer, the businessperson who donates to a politician's retirement fund, and thinks that he and the city will clean up monetarily. They are there to promote your guilt and dismiss your inconvenience. Runners, next to bicyclists, are the biggest a-holes this side of creation. They believe the streets, your time and money, your aggravation are small tributes to their physical vanity. Rerouting the race to end somewhere else would give a less fortunate city the chance to experience the pride of running for gridlock."
"At the bend at San Vicente and Ocean, there was not much encouragement between there and the finish, I thought. The chain-link fences around the California Incline were an insult to spectators, as was the screening after the finish line. People were waiting to see their friends and were unable to."
"The question really shouldn't be about the throngs of people who descend upon Santa Monica for the marathon. The question really should be about the throngs of residents in Santa Monica who basically are cut off and stranded while the marathon is going on for the better portion of the half day. For instance, the Big Blue Bus does not provide service north of Wilshire during the marathon. Which means the elderly, the disabled people who need to get to work, people who need to run errands, cannot do what is necessary for their lives. There is no shuttle bus going up and down for people living above Wilshire Boulevard. They are simply cut off from civilization; people who rely on public transportation. This has been going on for three years. The Big Blue Bus people are unresponsive, and a representative from City Hall indicated that the people up here should ‘share a taxi.'"
"I think the marathon is great for the city of Santa Monica. I believe it helps local businesses make money and helps promote the city as a beautiful place that encourages exercise and living a healthy lifestyle. I saw the traffic moving fairly well. There didn't seem to be any major problems. I liked the festive crowds and all the different faces. Then again, I rode my bike Downtown because I knew driving would be suicide. I believe it's a small inconvenience for something that is truly historic and iconic."
