Los Angeles Marathon (formerly the City of Los Angeles Marathon) is an annual running event held each spring in Los Angeles, California. The 26.219 mile (42.195 km) footrace, inspired by the success of the 1984 Summer Olympic Games, has been contested every year since 1986. The 26th edition of the marathon will be held on March 20, 2011.
In 1987, six students at East Los Angeles’ Boyle Heights High School enrolled in a marathon training program offered by teacher Harry Shabazian. The Students Run L.A. organization has grown dramatically since its inception, and today thousands of at-risk students from throughout the Los Angeles Unified School District participate in the six month program that promotes physical fitness, discipline and goal setting.
On March 4, 1990, two dozen teachers from around the city joined the three co-founders, with students from their respective schools, and together, they all ran in the Los Angeles Marathon V. In 1993, Students run LA spun off from LAUSD and became an independent organization. Today, that one teacher and his handful of students have grown to 500 teachers and 3000 students from 170 schools and community programs throughout Los Angeles.
Since 1989, more than 39,000 students have been served by SRLA. The growth of the program has only increased its success. Inspired by the success of SRLA, a pilot project was begun with the Montreal Marathon and Students on the run was created with the first objective to complete the September 2010 Montreal Marathon. There were 19 students to begin with and 12 completed the 2010 event. The program continues with a new group and a new objective, complete the 2011 event.
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