In this first‑person race commentary, the narrator recounts his experience running the Los Angeles Marathon after a two‑year hiatus. He outlines his original pacing plan—aiming for a sub‑3‑hour finish (≈2:57) with a conservative first 20 miles (≈6:45 min/mi) due to recent illness (family sickness and an ear infection treated with antibiotics). At mile 20 (32 km) he decides to test his remaining energy, encouraging himself and fellow runners. The narrative highlights key moments: supportive exchanges with his friend Mike, who ultimately achieves a personal best of 3:00:54; motivational talks with fellow runner Kofuzi and coach Jimmy Dean, who together push to maintain a 7‑minute‑mile pace; and the collective effort to finish under three hours. The commentator reflects on the race’s emotional atmosphere, the challenges of wind and fatigue, and the rewarding feeling of racing again surrounded by a positive crowd.
Chapters
Los Angeles Marathon, mile 20, 32K in. This is where the race really starts. Give it everything you got, everything! Well, here we go, let's do this! 7 miles in so far. So good. Halfway point in about 1:28 and change. Real brief, so my plan for the marathon was that I didn't really have a specific goal finish time, although I thought I would be able to finish in around 2 hours 57 minutes. So that would be about a 6:45 minute mile pace or a 4:12 minute per kilometer. In the last 2 weeks, my family got sick and myself as well. So my wife, 2 kids, and myself were out for several days, and I actually ended up getting an ear infection. So I was taking antibiotics up until 2 days before the race. So I definitely want to ease into the race, and the first 20 miles, 32k, I was going to plan on holding back and then using some of the hills to my advantage. And then at mile 20, 32k in, I would possibly pick up the pace if I would still feel strong at this point. Mile 20, 32K in. This is where the race really starts. The beginning was just a warm-up. Let's see if we have some energy left. I better stop talking. 35K, are we there yet? What's up, homie? Yeah, Jimmy, you got it. You're on 7:20, so you'll make it. You got this. 3 miles. Thanks. You got this. I got you. I'm with you. Do this. Give it everything you got. Everything. We're exactly 2:44, Mike. We have to run 2 7-minute miles. 2 7s and you're in. 2 7-minute miles. We got this. Yes! Mike is going to run his first sub-3-hour marathon today. Come on, baby! And it's incredible to watch him fight over here. Turn those feet over, everything you got left. You're not saving anything else. Now's the time to battle, Mike. That a boy! Mike, we have to pick it up. It's going to be just by 10-15 seconds. You have 800 meters. It's so close to Kofuzi's first sub-3-hour marathon. Literally, we have to pick up the pace right now to make it. We're fighting hard. This is it, half a mile left to the finish line. You never know what's going to happen on race day, and today was exactly one of those. Everything seemed to be going quite smooth until mile 20. There was definitely some wind. 21, 22, 23 23, still running quite well. And right at that point, right about mile 23, I ended up seeing Kofuzi right in the front, right in front of me. And I knew his goal was to run a sub-3-hour marathon or to run a personal best. And at that point, right when I saw him, I knew he was struggling because he was running slower than average race pace. I talked to him and mentioned, come on, let's go, let's do this, let's bring it home. And I saw right away that he was somewhat in a negative mindset. And so both myself and Coach Jimmy Dean, one of my good friends and one of my original running coaches from back in the day, we ended up talking with Kifusi and we ended up running together. And it was incredible. We ended up pushing each other and it was to a point that he wanted to really slow down and we said like, no, if you run 7:20 or 7:30 minute mile, you should still be able to get in there. Sub-3-hour, like 2:59:59, and that's what we aimed for. So we ended up running mile 23, mile 24, and we noticed we started to lose some time over there, and we ended up pushing, pushing, pushing. Mile 25, and at that moment, mile 26, it ended up being a really big Y'all are really being challenging. And we basically said like, we have to run a 7-minute mile right now in order to get in there. We were so close, yet we saw that Kofuzi was giving his everything, his absolute all. And yes, we ended up at the finish line in 3 hours and 54 seconds. It was still a personal best for Mike. By 90 seconds, and he simply couldn't have run it any faster at that point. He had given it his all. I saw how much he was struggling. He was hurting at that point. But then again, that's what running a marathon is all about. So we ended up having a really good time. We ended up like— the energy on the field was so positive, and it was just really good to be finally racing again and being surrounded by a lot of people, so.
