West Hollywood will have its own version of the L.A. Marathon (albeit a shorter one) in April.
RaceForce LLC, an event production company, has announced it will stage the Sunset Strip Half Marathon on April 19.
Mayor John D’Amico, who with Councilmember John Duran proposed that the city authorize the race, said the event will bring business to local hotels, restaurants and other businesses.
RaceForce won the Council’s permission to stage the 13.1 mile half-marathon race and a separate five kilometer race in July. The Beverly Hills City Council denied RaceForce’s request to extend the run into that city. So the West Hollywood route will extend beyond Sunset Boulevard, forcing closures to traffic on April 19 of sections of Santa Monica, North San Vicente, North La Cienega, Beverly and Sunset boulevards and Melrose Avenue.
San Vicente Boulevard between Melrose and Santa Monica, which is where the half-marathon’s starting and end points will be located, will be closed from 2 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the race day. The race also will require the closing of part of West Hollywood Park. At the end of the race there will be a music festival with live bands and alcohol served. “”Our finish line rock-music festival will be high-energy and unlike anything else in Los Angeles,” RaceForce CEO Brian Pendleton said in a press release. “Supporters will welcome racers across the finish line and live rock bands will entertain everyone for hours.”
RaceForce is a commercial venture whose parent company, OmniForce, stages races throughout California. They include the Surf City Marathon in Huntington Beach and the U.S. Half Marathon in San Francisco. The companies’ revenues come from business sponsorships for the races and from fees paid by runners, which will be $70 for the West Hollywood half-marathon and $40 for the 5K race. Under its contract with the city, which includes permission to stage races in 2016 and 2017, RaceForce will reimburse West Hollywood for the cost of fire and police services during the event.
Runners can register for the race online up until April 15.
Funny that they have since added some CHARITY beneficaries.
This is ill-considered. It means that the center of the city will be shut down for a second Sunday within a few weeks, with massive inconvenience and traffic shutdowns. And unlike the Marathon, lasting much later in the day (4 pm). This is going to raise a lot of local hackles. I am happy to bear with the inconvenience (and obviously positive aspects) of Pride and out stage of the LA Marathon, but this, on top of the already unnecessary Halloween madness and the extended Sunset Strip Rock Festival, is pushing things to a breaking point.
That many streets closed for a “commercial venture”??? No charity aspect? No way!! Tax dollars are not likely to offset what businesses will lose from normal Sunday business due to closed streets. All race participants and their friends and family are likely to eat/drink at the festival.