The Winners Of The LA Marathon Have Been Announced
After venturing from Downtown Los Angeles through Century City underneath sunny skies and ideal temperatures, winners of the L.A. Marathon were announced.
Tyler Byers has won the wheelchair race, Tavian Bryan has won the men's handcycle and Beth Sanden has won the women's handcycle.
Delvine Meringor of Kenya has won the women's race, and John Korir of Kenya has won the men's race. Korir also won the 2021 L.A. Marathon, which was held just four months ago after being postponed due to COVID-19 concerns.
Among the first racers to cross the starting line Sunday morning were a group of veterans with ambulatory disabilities, participating in the race using wheelchairs and handcycles.
The Achilles Freedom Team includes retired Marine sergeant Mike Sprouse, who started handcycling as a way to keep active after suffering a spinal cord injury. Sprouse has been with the team since 2006.
Delvine Meringor (2:25:03) held off John Korir (2:09:07) by about 8 seconds to win the Los Angeles Marathon and the $10,000 Quincy Cass Associates Marathon Challenge. Women started 16:05 ahead of men. @fast_women pic.twitter.com/RtgdW23NAr
— Los Angeles Marathon (@lamarathon) March 20, 2022
"You go through the why me and the angry stage and what am I going to do part, and then handcycling gives a lot of people with my type of disability a way to get back into the community,” he said. “It gives me an opportunity to cycle with friends and family, and it's like a family reunion every time you go to a race.”
Sprouse is from Kentucky, but travels for big races.
The 26.2 mile race began Sunday morning at Dodger Stadium, with more than 20,000 runners registered. The course takes participants northwest on Sunset Boulevard, through Hollywood, then southwest along Santa Monica Boulevard through Brentwood, before looping back to the finish line at Avenue of the Stars in Century City.