Report by: Eric Barron
For the first time in several years, runners could not complain much about the weather at the 2006 L.A. Marathon. Pleasant temperatures, clear skies, and weak winds offered the chance for some good times for both the runners and the spectators.
Leading the way for TCLA, Tyrone Black was grateful for the cool temperature after struggling the last couple of years in the heat. He looked (relatively) fresh at the finish and was greeted there by a line of women eager to kiss him (no joke). Mike Mahurin started at a leisurely 7:30 pace and gradually picked it up from there to end up crossing the line in just over three hours. Mike Branch ran an almost identical race as last year (same cramps, same time), and is now willing to concede that maybe Los Angeles is not the best place to try to p.r. for your marathon. Continuing his conversion from 400m runner to distance runner, Nyron Bernard put in a good effort. David Kent cruised along with other TCLA'ers for a while before leaving them behind. Peter Glassman was one of those who hit the wall a little harder than David, but he improved much over last year's effort. A couple of minutes later, Dean Goodman finished with his third best marathon ever.
Back at the wall, Clarence Smith had a tough time breaking through it on his way to the finish. Andrea Clemons jumped over the wall with a good time. Eirik Haenschke was out on a nice weekend marathon run, but Mark Harris was out to make a strong bid for Boston came up just a bit short. Out for a p.r., Wayne Joness took off a little to aggressively and paid the price. Masami Fukuhara, a long-time L.A. Marathoner, turned in a strong performance this year, while Philip Steinman, another race veteran, finished just a minute back of Masami. Also finishing under four hours were Gina Jamero, Boaz McNabb, and David Levine.
With his daughter cheering him on, Jeff Bernstein set out to break four, but tired a little as the race wore on. David Levine was one of the few to run a nice, even split. Marie Steinman has not been able to make it to too many workouts, but she managed to run the marathon. Roberta Silverman was cheering on the cheerers while she ran, and Hos Dubosh rounded out the TCLA athletes.
Finally, some recognition goes to these TCLA'ers who supported the marathoners by either standing on the sidelines or running alongside the paying folks: Scott Allen, Cindy Bernstein, Stephanie Cahn, Jose Castillo, Peggy Sauve Enriquez, Ogie Espinosa, Eric Giovanola, Peter Keramidas, Albert Li, Martin Muoto, Robert Newmark, Brian Panosian, Todd Patterson, Tim Petersen, Stephanie Pogorelsky, Eric Raffini, Bruce Reisenfeld, Susan Rendall, Jesus Rivera, Wenise Wong, and Sharon Yamato.