LA Marathon 2010 - Tips to Know If You're Participating

As of March 12, the LA Marathon 2010 has officially reached its maximum number of participants at 25,000 runners. In the 25 year history of the race, this is the first time it has ever sold out. If you are one of the 25,000 runners planning to attend, or possibly a family member or friend coming to cheer the runners on, here are 5 tips you will want to know.

LA Marathon Race Day Tracker
The Race Day Tracker is a very cool feature of the LA Marathon. Friends and family can sign up on the LA Marathon website here to receive notifications throughout the race as you pass certain markers. Text messages will be sent out when you pass markers at 10K, 20K, 30K, 40K and finally when you cross the finish line. To sign up, go here.

Reserve your parking space at the LA Marathon in advance.
With an influx of people filling up the streets of Santa Monica for the start of the race, who wants to be stuck looking for a place to park. LA Marathon entrants are encouraged to sign up online to reserve their parking space in advance. According to the race website "all City of Santa Monica-owned parking facilities will be closed overnight between Saturday March 20 and Sunday, March 21. Only those who have pre-purchased parking will be allowed access to the location specified on the parking pass. On Sunday March 21st many Downtown Parking Structures will be closed until 7:00 AM to allow for parking for spectators later in the day." Don't be left in the cold, sign up today for your pre-purchased parking spot. To sign up, go here.

Arrive early for the LA Marathon.
Even if you have pre-purchased your parking ticket, it is imperative that you arrive to the LA Marathon early. The last shuttle to leave for Dodger Stadium will leave at 6 AM. But plan on being there at least 30 minutes in advance to allow time to park and walk to the shuttle staging area. The runner shuttles are located on Main Street in front of the Santa Monica City Hall between Pico Boulevard and Olympic Drive. The shuttles will begin running at 3 AM.

LA Marathon has partnered with 36 area hotels for great rates.
Since you'll be arriving at the staging area quite early (as early as 3 AM!), you'll want to get as much pre-race sleep as possible. The best idea is to stay in one of the 36 area hotels that have partnered with the LA Marathon. At last check, hotel rooms were going fast and runners had been recommended to book by early March. For a complete hotel list, please click here.

Familiarize yourself with the race route.
It's always best to plan your race strategy prior to the start of the LA Marathon. Race officials have made it easy but uploading a map of the course to their website. You can access the map here.

Accuweather is predicting a nice 71 degrees for the day of the race. Follow these tips for a successful LA Marathon experience.

Sources:
http://www.lamarathon.com