Tens of thousands of runners are completing their trek from Dodger Stadium to the Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica.
Weldon Kirui, a 29-year-old from Kenya, was the first to cross the finish line shortly after 9 a.m. with a time of 2:11.46 for his second L.A. Marathon victory in three years, and Ethiopia’s Sule Utura Gedo, 28, nabbed first place in the women’s competition with a time of 2:33:50.
Second and third places in the men’s division were rounded out by Gebresadik Adihana of Ethopia and last year’s winner, Kenyan Elisha Barno, respectively. Adihana finished with a time of 2:11:57 while Barno’s was 2:12:14, according to marathon data.
The women’s second-place finisher, Tsehay Desalegn, also of Ethiopia, came in with 2:33:58. Kenyan Hellen Jepkurgat, last year’s women’s winner, took third at 2:34:10, the marathon data showed.
The top American in the women’s competition was 36-year-old Christina Vergara-Aleshire of Henderson, Nevada, who took fourth with a time of 2:34:25. For the men, Rachid Ezzouniou, a 35-year-old from El Paso, was the fastest American at 2:22:42.
And in the wheelchair division, American Krige Schabort grabbed the men’s top spot with a time of 1:35:40, while fellow American Michelle Wheeler was the fastest woman at 2:16:36.
“It’s been in Ohio as early as the mid-1850s at least, brought in as an ornamental plant because of its unique foliage and white flowers,” Gardner said. “It was actually planted in people’s landscaping, and it has been spreading.”
Race officials did not immediately release full results for the wheel race.
Juan Ramon Valladares Hernandez, of Colombia, got second place in the men’s wheelchair division with a time of 1:39:29. American Brittany Charboneau took second among women in the division with a time of 2:36:26.
Related: Full coverage of the 2018 Los Angeles Marathon