Defending Champion Stacy Ndiwa; Olympians Olga Mazuronak and Silvia Paredes headline women’s 2024 elite field; Kenya’s Dominic Kipyegon Ngeno, Moses Kiptoo Kurgat and Cosmas Kiplimo highlight men’s professional field
39th annual Los Angeles Marathon presented by ASICS set for Sunday, March 17
Los Angeles, CA (February 9, 2024) — The 2024 Los Angeles Marathon presented by ASICS is proud to announce the return of the Marathon Challenge, an exciting 26.2-mile race-within-a-race competition that will highlight the talented runners of the women’s and men’s elite fields in an all-out duel to the finish line. The 39th running of the Los Angeles Marathon will be held on Sunday, March 17 from Dodger Stadium to Century City.
The Marathon Challenge will provide a special winner-take-all competition among the elite runners that will play out live on local television KTLA Channel 5, as well as streaming on KTLA.com and KTLA+ digital mediums. To facilitate this unique competition, the women’s elite starting time will be set based on the expected men’s and women’s winning times, estimated at approximately 16 minutes apart.
This head start on the men’s elite field should put the top female and top male runners within seconds of each other heading into the final mile. The first runner to reach the finish line will receive a $10,000 bonus.
“The Marathon Challenge is the professional race format that allows us to create excitement through innovation”, says Murphy Reinschreiber, the Marathon’s Chief Operating Officer. “The Challenge is two and half hours of gamified pro running coverage featuring data analysis by our expert commentators to predict if, and when, the catch will happen. The men’s and women’s leaders engage in a split-screen battle right to the finish chute to win the coveted prize money bonus. There’s no chance that the race coverage suffers from solo leaders running away with the race from early miles.”
The top runners in the women’s elite field this year are Stacy Ndiwa (Kenya, 2:31:00), Olga Mazuronak (Belarus, 2:23:54), Rachel Hannah (Canada, 2:32:09), Pamela Rotich (Kenya, 2:33:52) and Silvia Paredes (Ecuador, 2:40:58), while the top runners in the men’s elite field are Dominic Kipyegon Ngeno (Kenya, 2:07:26), Tsegay Tuemay (Eritrea, 2:09:07), Cosmas Kiplimo (Kenya, 2:09:44), Sammy Rotich (Kenya, 2:10:08), Tesfu Weldegebreal (Eritrea, 1:02:48 half marathon) and Belay Tilahun Bezabh (Ethiopia, 2:11:49).
Since it was brought back in 2022, the Marathon Challenge has revived the race-within-a-race competition between the women’s and men’s elite runners in the Los Angeles Marathon that existed under various names from 2004-2014. During that 11-year span, women held a 7-4 advantage over the men.
After exciting finishes the past two years, the margin is now 9-4 in favor of the women. In 2022, Ethiopia’s Delvine Meringor (2:25:04) held off Kenya’s John Korir (2:09:08) to win the Marathon Challenge, while last year Kenya’s Stacy Ndiwa ran away with the women’s race in a personal-best time of 2:31:00 and also held off men’s winner Jemal Yimer of Ethiopia (2:13:13) in the homestretch on Santa Monica Boulevard to secure the winner-take-all bonus.
The Los Angeles Marathon presented by ASICS is operated by The McCourt Foundation TMF) an organization whose mission is to cure neurological diseases while empowering communities to build a healthier world.
Runners interested in starting in the women’s or men’s elite fields should email the race at coordinator@mccourtfoundation.org.com. For more information about the 2024 Los Angeles Marathon presented by ASICS or to register for the event, visit LAmarathon.com.
About The McCourt Foundation
The McCourt Foundation (TMF) empowers communities to build a healthier world through research, education, and events. TMF’s mission is to cure neurological diseases while empowering communities to build a healthier world. TMF makes a difference by donating to neurology research, hosting educational forums, and using our events such as the Los Angeles Marathon, Rose Bowl Half Marathon & 5K, Santa Monica Classic, Boston Waterfront 5K, and Tour de South Shore, as platforms to raise funds for over 105 nonprofit charity partners. Since its inception, TMF has donated more than $6.3 million to neurology research and generated more than $68M for our over nonprofit charity partners.
Established in 1992, TMF is a 501 (c)(3) with offices in Boston, MA and Los Angeles, CA.
