⏵ Course guide · Stadium to the Stars
The Los Angeles Marathon runs point-to-point from Dodger Stadium to Century City, a rolling tour past Echo Park, Hollywood Boulevard, the Sunset Strip, and Rodeo Drive, with real hills mixed into the sightseeing. I will walk you through the course and entry first, then give you a pacing plan built for the Silver Lake and Beverly Hills climbs, plus free tools to dial in your own numbers.
These facts come from mccourtfoundation.org and public race reporting. Confirm current-year registration and course details on mccourtfoundation.org before you commit.
LA runs point-to-point from Dodger Stadium to Century City, net slightly downhill overall, but the real story is the string of climbs woven through the landmark tour.
The first real work of the day comes early, through the Silver Lake and Echo Park hills, before your legs are truly warmed into marathon effort. Treat these climbs with respect rather than surprise: they set the tone for how the rest of the course will feel if you overcook the effort here.
The route continues through Hollywood Boulevard and the Sunset Strip with a series of smaller rollers before the course's toughest sustained climb, into Beverly Hills, hits around the midpoint. This is the section that separates a well-paced day from a rough one.
From Dodger Stadium through Echo Park, Hollywood, the Sunset Strip, and finishing near Rodeo Drive in Century City, LA is built as a tour of the city as much as a race course. That is a real strength of the event, but it also means the terrain is not engineered for a fast, flat time the way a Boston Qualifying course would be.
The net-downhill number on paper hides a course that asks for real climbing legs twice, early through Silver Lake and again through Beverly Hills.
It is tempting to push through the Silver Lake and Echo Park climbs while you feel fresh. Resist it. A grade-adjusted target for those early miles keeps your effort honest before your legs are fully warmed up, and protects what you have left for Beverly Hills.
The mid-race climb into Beverly Hills is where an overpaced first half gets exposed. Build your pacing plan around holding effort through that climb rather than chasing a flat-course pace target that does not account for LA's rolling profile.
⏵ Free tools to pace this course
⏵ Train for it with Summit Line
Get a race-day plan built around YOUR fitness, this rolling landmark course profile, and your projected splits. Summit Line reads your real training, builds a plan for the Silver Lake and Beverly Hills climbs, and rehearses your fueling so race day is something you execute, not guess at.
Yes, more than its net-downhill number suggests. The route drops slightly from Dodger Stadium to Century City overall, but it is not a smooth decline. Early climbs through the Silver Lake and Echo Park neighborhoods start the work right away, Hollywood brings its own rollers, and a notable climb into Beverly Hills mid-race is the toughest stretch on the course. This is a sightseeing marathon built around a tour of Los Angeles landmarks, not a course engineered for a fast, flat time.
Do not race the early Silver Lake and Echo Park hills; they arrive before your legs are warmed into the effort a marathon actually needs, and going hard there sets up a rough back half. Save real energy for the Beverly Hills climb around the midpoint, the hardest sustained stretch on the course. Because this is a rolling, landmark-heavy route rather than a record-eligible course, run by effort through the hills and treat a strong, controlled finish as the goal rather than chasing an even flat-course split.
Early March in Los Angeles is usually mild, but the city can throw a genuinely hot day, temperatures in the 70s Fahrenheit and up, that punishes an unprepared field, or occasionally rain. The route runs on open boulevards for long stretches with real sun exposure and little shade, so plan your hydration and pacing for a possible warm day even if the forecast looks mild going in.
Registration is open, first-come, with no lottery. That makes LA one of the easier majors to get into logistically: if you want to run it, you register and you are in, without the qualifying times, charity fundraising minimums, or drawing odds that gate entry to Boston, Chicago, or New York.
Generally, no. The early Silver Lake and Echo Park hills, the Hollywood rollers, and the Beverly Hills climb mid-race make this a course built for experience over speed. Runners chasing a personal best or a Boston Qualifier typically look to flatter or more downhill-favorable courses, CIM or a Revel race, for example. LA rewards runners who come for the tour of Dodger Stadium, Echo Park, Hollywood Boulevard, the Sunset Strip, and Rodeo Drive, and pace accordingly.
Link this guide
Race directors and clubs: link or embed this guide anywhere. It stays current.
<a href="https://runsummitline.com/guides/la-marathon">The Los Angeles Marathon course guide</a><iframe src="https://runsummitline.com/embed/race/la-marathon" style="width:100%;max-width:420px;height:180px;border:0;" loading="lazy" title="Los Angeles Marathon course guide by Summit Line"></iframe>This guide is independent and for planning only. The course details, dates, cutoffs, and registration rules come from public sources and can change year to year, so confirm the current specifics with the official race before you register or run. The pacing advice is general and not medical advice.