2023 LA Marathon: road closures, the route, how to watch

The 38th annual Los Angeles Marathon begins Sunday morning at Dodgers Stadium, with 22,000 runners making their way to the finish line on Century City’s Avenue of the Stars.

The 26.2-mile course takes runners past some of the area’s most popular neighborhoods and communities, including Chinatown, Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Century City.

Cool temperatures await the participants during the race. The day will be mostly cloudy with a high of 65 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

But Sunday’s trek toward the coast will mean dozens of road closures en route in Los Angeles, Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Century City.

The race will be televised on KTLA, Channel 5 and streamed live on the LA Marathon Facebook page.

The marathon starts at 6:30 a.m., but the roads along the route will be closed as early as 4:00 a.m. The mainline includes portions of Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood Boulevard, and Santa Monica Boulevard.

Much of downtown and Century City will be effectively closed to vehicles for much of the race.

Roads will reopen as runners stream through the area toward the finish line. For example, downtown streets should reopen by 10 a.m. and Hollywood by 12 p.m.

Near the finish line in Century City, some streets such as Santa Monica Boulevard, Century Park East and Avenue of the Stars will remain closed until 8 p.m

The organizers of the race point out that the marathon route will be closed, but also several adjacent streets. Several freeway on-ramps on the north lanes of the southbound 110, 101 and 405 freeways will also be closed.

The Los Angeles Marathon, started in 1986, was a race from downtown to the Santa Monica coast, but in 2021 organizers unveiled a new “Stadium to the Stars” course where runners will turn around before reaching Santa Monica and back Drive to Santa Monica Boulevard in Century City instead.

A cash prize of US$6,000 will be offered to the winner of the men’s and women’s races. A $2,500 prize will also be awarded to the wheelchair division winner.

Last year John Korir of Kenya won the men’s class in 2:09:07. Devline Meringor of Kenya won the women’s division in 2:25:03.