An Impressive Morning in Echo Park: The LA Marathon

The noise of helicopters woke me up bright and early this Sunday morning. While at times helicopters are common in Echo Park, these were indicating something different. The Marathon, starting off at nearby Dodger Stadium, was in preparation stages. I tuned into the local channel and caught the start of the various races. Wheelchair and women's elite started the bunch, followed by the elite men's and general race. However, I should note that there was nothing general about the general race. With over 25,000 participants, the race took over the streets of Los Angeles. I decided to walk down to Echo Park Lake to catch some of the race first hand. While the act of running 26 miles is crazy and impressive, even more crazy and more impressive was the amount of folks who came out to cheer on the athletes. It was before 8 AM on a Sunday, yet the intersections were full of families, individuals and couples out to show their support. It was one of those moments that is making me feel more and more at home here in Los Angeles. Check out some of the images from the race: