30th Annual L.A. Marathon: a perspective from the sidelines

It was a cool Sunday morning, the usual traffic nightmares were nonexistent even with the roadblocks all over the city, but the roads were far from empty. Spectators lined up throughout the city to watch the 30th annual LA Marathon, in which people from all over the world braved the 26.2 miles from Dodger Stadium all the way to Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica. The event was sponsored by Asics.

This annual event grows each year, usually seeing over 20,000 participants from all over the U.S. and even cultures beyond. The clear cut winner, Daniel Limo from Kenya finished the race with a time of 2:10:36, with his nearest competitor coming in two minutes after him.

It was a good day for the U.S. and for women too with the top U.S. placer Jared Ward finishing at 2:12:56 and the top women's placer Ogla Kimaiyo finishing at 2:34:10.

Unlike other marathons he's participated in, Ward feels the support here is on a higher magnitude. "It's amazing to see a big city like here, [how] the city really comes out. It's amazing to run down the streets and see all the people who've come out to watch the marathon," he said.

The event didn't only celebrate the elite runners though; every participant was greeted with a sash at the finish line as family and friends held up signs of affirmation.

Over 22,000 participants registered to give the marathon a shot. Many participants conquered the race and finished, while not everyone was so lucky as there were ambulance sirens blaring in the vicinity all day.

At the reunion area vendors set up shop and there were food trucks, Nutribullet giveaways, flowers for loved ones that just finished the race, and even a beer garden because it's always 5 o' clock somewhere.