Sunday, 3 March, Los Angeles - From his emperor-like perch on the corner of Figueroa & Sixth, Los Angeles Marathon president Bill Burke looked every bit the conquering hero. As he stood in the back of the Honda pace van, his corona of white hair emerging above the sunroof, arrayed before him was an assemblage he could rightfully take pride in: the final staging of the 12th annual City of Los Angeles Marathon.

Overhead, a sun-drenched sky of cornflower blue held a squadron of television helicopters and the Blockbuster Blimp. Amidst shafts of sun slanting through the gleaming towers of glass and steel, 12,341 cyclists had already begun their pre-marathon course tour. In low humidity and mid-50's conditions, anxiously awaiting the starter's signal were 19,905 marathoners; 2,341 5K entrants; 2,241 in-line skaters rolling their own 10K; and 3,802 walkers.

All the elements that go into the world's fourth largest marathon were assembled. Even the final five miles of the course had been leveled to insure a quick time. All the pieces were in place - except one. On this grand stage of fitness and health there were no show stoppers, no marquee names, no electricity of impending excellence, no magic; which was particularly incongruous, given this was Hollywood, hometown of the star-making machinery. And there was no reason for it other than a lack of desire to make it happen.

World-class event? Yes. World-class sporting event? Not yet. It was like going to the Riviera Country Club for the PGA's Nissan L.A. Open (played the same weekend as the marathon) and instead of Nick Faldo, Tiger Woods, and Fred Couples, 2-handicappers from the South American tour topped the leader board.

Besides Ethiopia's Turbo Tumo, second in New York City in 1996, the names that had been contracted to run the 1997 L.A. Marathon were either old or missing; like former five-time world cross country champion, John Ngugi of Kenya, and 39 year-old Wodajo Bulti of Ethiopia. But Tumo - who industry insiders said never was coming to L.A. - took a better deal in Japan (finishing second at Lake Biwa in 2:09:00 to 1995 world champion Martin Fiz of Spain's 2:08:05). Ngugi and his fellow Kenyans remained grounded in London with visa problems.

Left was a field filled with faceless, nameless, 2:14 to 2:16 men commanding minimum appearance money, some of whom had been recruited in the final week as filler. The women were even less expensive. Sources told The Running Life that a goose egg had been spent in appearance fees for the women's field. Nada. Zip. And as the adage predicts: you get what you pay for.

They did contract the rabbit, American-based Kenyan Cosmas Musyoka, for $3,000 and informed athletes at the pre-race technical meeting that he would run the half at a 1:05 pace. When Musyoka began the race with a series of 4:49, 4:52, 4:52, and 4:56 miles (resembling a heifer with Mad Cow disease), why didn't some race official drive up alongside and bulldog him back to earth?

Only after the race it was learned that the night before, after the technical meeting key up, Musyoka was instructed not to run 1:05, but rather a 1:03 first half.

"In the end Bill Burke said he wanted to break 2:10," explained elite athlete coordinator, Carlos Godoy. "And he said to do it we had to push." Hello? Earth calling L.A.?

1:05 was too fast for this gathering. 1:03 would have necessitated cab fare. So much for presidential strategy. Musyoka, whose half-marathon personal record is 1:02:56, did not - could not - last 10 miles at that pace.

Only two men in the field had ever run under 1:03 for the half marathon: Morocco's El Maati Chaham (1:02:57) and self-entered # 4045 Tesfaye Bekele of Ethiopia. They broke away from the struggling field and took over the leader's reigns from the fast fading Kenyan at 15 kilometers. The two hit the half in 1:06, then jostled each other all the way home at 5:15 pace with the field strung out so far behind it would take the Hubble telescope to see them. Only with the tape in sight did any racing begin. The long-legged Moroccan blasted down a final steep hill on Wilshire Boulevard to snatch the win in 2:14:16, the second slowest winning time in L.A. history on a course specifically designed for speed.

Afterwards the press conference was dominated by questions regarding the woman winner's disqualification for cutting through a convenience store parking lot past 22 miles. But course speed was also an issue. After changing the course again in 1997 to level the final five miles yet still running slower than 1996, Burke was asked what needed to be done to get that sub-2:10 time everyone - including L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan - seemed to want.

"After 12 tries, if I had a ready answer....," chuckled the L.A. Marathon president. "But what we are going to do is establish cooperative relationships with more South and Central American races. Hire either a part-time or full-time consultant to recruit elite athletes. 2:09 is a very subjective goal," Burke continued, "but we are going after it, and we will find it some day.

"In mid-April we will conclude a five-year plan," said the 57 year-old Burke when pressed further. "We will then write a new three-year plan, and will include a larger allocation of funds for prize and appearance money. But this marathon has always been a race of opportunity, and we don't want to change that. But we will add some better known names to compare their skills against people like we have on the dais today. I don't know how much we will increase the prize ratio, but the significance will show next year."

Race of opportunity? Third place at L.A. was $5,000, fifth place $1,000 out of a total prize purse, men and women together, of $75,000. Other major city marathons pay that sum and more for a single athlete of stature. Which means the second-place caddie at the L.A. Open was paid more than the winner of the L.A. Marathon, and the third-place golfer took home $20,000 more than the entire marathon purse. So much for opportunity.

Honolulu also touts itself as a race of opportunity. Its former champions have gone on to win New York City, Boston, and the Olympic marathons. But last year's L.A. champion, Jose Molina, went to Asia to rabbit two marathons rather than defend, because he received more there for pacing than he could for winning L.A. Just a few years ago first place at L.A. was worth $50,000 and a car.

While L.A. has always existed in that group of sub-elite marathon races, it has simultaneously staged one of the grand spectacles in the marathon world. It is this discrepancy between racing talent and event stature that has dogged L.A. since its inception.

"I have written that it's difficult to take the L.A. Marathon seriously as a major sporting event," wrote L.A. Times columnist Randy Harvey in the Monday, March 3rd edition. "I didn't change my mind Sunday."

Burke is a controversial marathon president; his personal wealth from the event and the marathon's shadowy political contributions to city officials were delineated in "The Big Run-around," published on race day by Los Angeles Magazine.

Burke's non-running background, iron-clad political connections (his wife is a L.A. county supervisor and former congresswoman), and his luxury-car-salesman-like charm hasn't worn well with the more traditional elements of the sport for whom wearing running shoes to weddings has always passed for style. Yet since winning the bid from the city in 1985, the Burke-led marathon - unlike Boston, New York, and Honolulu - has always been a for-profit operation. His is not a zero-sum game.

More than anything, however, it has been the variance between the shallow money for any showcase athletes and Burke's ample lifestyle that has stirred the controversy. He asserted, "I haven't earned a dime from the marathon."

The question is: does the L.A. Marathon care whether it is taken seriously as a sporting event or not? KCOP which has locally televised all 12 L.A. Marathons, recently signed a new three-year deal. Yet KCOP general manager, Rick Feldman, told his production staff before the race that if the marathon continues to devalue the elite competition, he would begin assigning his TV assets accordingly.

"Why should we focus our attention on something nobody else seems to care about, or put effort into?" Feldman asked rhetorically.

There is no contractual obligation with the City of Los Angeles - which owns the marathon - requiring it to be a world-class athletic competition. And there is no question that Burke's marathon, as a city-wide spectacle, has captured the essence of this hard-to-tie-together megalopolis, often at times of crisis in the city. With everything it does so well (including making a living for Burke), it would be nice if the L.A. Marathon would recruit a deep-quality field for what is now a fast course, and let the electricity flow like a Tiger Woods two iron. A lot will be known by March of 1998.

COUNTERPOINT

Over the last decade this "city without a center" has seemed on the verge of total entropy - whether from fires, floods, earthquakes, or a riotous citizenry. The City of Los Angeles Marathon has always been there to gather its winding route around the disparate racial and ethnic divisions and forge the feeling of community so often missing in southern California's sunny, but vacuous environment.

Preceding 1997's running, two armor-plated assailants in North Hollywood wielding military hardware wounded 10 police officers and numerous by-standers in a brazen bank robbery gone desperately wrong. Once again the city was in need of relief from its marathon.

On this grand stage, there was no spark, as if a black hole had sucked all the athletic achievement from the spectacle, where your relative or neighbor had become more compelling than the professional competition. Burke's elite athlete monetary policy was no more than a reflection of his, and his city's, best interests; a mirror held up to running's own Dorian Gray athletic state of affairs. Spend money? On whom exactly?

Quick - who won Boston last year on its 100th anniversary? Who is the reigning women's Olympic marathon champion? There aren't any stars and haven't been since the early 90s at the latest. Why should Burke spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to bring in some unknown names and faces simply because they can run 2:09 rather than 2:14? The L.A. audience wouldn't know the difference. Burke would be better off bringing in Mother Theresa from Calcutta. She can barely walk, but people would watch her shuffle along for hours on end. That's star quality.

Burke didn't emerge from a running background; he doesn't wear running shoes to business meetings. He saw a financial and political gain in running and has milked it for all he can. If, through his own efforts, Burke has been able to earn a significant living - more power to him. The sport is long overdue for an infusion of entrepreneurs who see running as a means to a business end. Some find venality in that approach, even as they cling to an attenuated code of running purity which has established, then maintained, running as everyman's recreational outlet, but nary a man's professional sport.

You can bet that if there were star-quality runners out there, Burke would pay the big money, even a million dollars, to develop them as assets for his event. He would do it because, as Hollywood has shown, no matter how much you pay superstars up front they return that money many times over at the box office. But pay that for Fatuma Roba (the women's Olympic champion), or Moses Tanui (Boston's 100th champ)? Forget about it. No chance. Where is the payoff in that?

Sure, the television ratings for this year's event dipped to their lowest levels ever. But for the first time the marathon was going up against the L.A. Open, a Laker's basketball telecast from back east, and the Dodger's spring training opener in Florida. KCOP TV complained of the lackluster elite competition; Feldman did not say his station would not televise the event in future years, just that he would reconsider focusing on the fast runners. No skin off Burke's beak there.

It is not Burke's job to develop stars to the detriment of his business involvement. Pay that money now just to run a 2:09 rather than a 2:14 when no sports fan out there can be found to root for or against one of these anonymous oxygen-delivery systems? If a CEO acted in like fashion, he would be in jeopardy of hostile takeover bids from the Wall Streeters and vitriol from irate shareholders saying he is running the business into the ground.

The 12th City of Los Angeles Marathon should be a wake-up call (as if this sport needed another). It is as good a barometer as any for this sport. There is no agenda in L.A. outside public service and profit. It does not get any more apple pie that that. Running ought to canonize Burke instead of trying to demonize him. He is the purest reflection of running's sophistry we have on two legs. The 40,630 everyday athletes and millions more Los Angelinos who find purpose and pleasure through his efforts, back him for miles on end, even when that backing leads him all the way to the bank. If venality lies on that path, I say: "somebody get me a course map."