Posts Tagged ‘the rock’

The “Stars” Come Out at the Los Angeles Marathon

Two weeks ago, the Los Angeles Marathon brought out the crowds, the celebrities and the Hollywood press, and the combination was more entertaining than the race itself.

The first thing to note is that our concept of “celebrity” seems to be ever expanding, since most of the celebrities who took part in the race were in fact stars of “reality” TV shows. Nevertheless, it was enough to generate a slew of stories and blog posts.

The headliner was Shia LaBeouf, star of the Transformers movies and co-conspirator in the worst Indiana Jones movie. He was the most photographed, but his 4:35 finish prompted some criticism of his lack of speed.

Perhaps he was too mellow because he was listening to Tibetan monk chants while running. To his credit, Shia ran to benefit U.S. Vets, which provides assistance to homeless veterans.

Lord of the Rings star Sean Astin ran a 5:16. (Did anyone chant “Rudy! Rudy!” at the finish?)

Hell’s Kitchen star and veteran marathoner Gordon Ramsay was forced to drop out at about mile 15 due to a calf injury, though that didn’t stop Access Hollywood with crediting him with a 3:36 finish.

Singer Alanis Morissette registered and ran in the race, but either didn’t finish or forgot to wear her chip.

And among the celebrity spectators were director Rob Reiner, actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus and large Samoan-American Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

But if you want to know what the race itself was like, don’t bother with all those articles. The best account comes from our own celebrity marathoner, Danica the Chic Runner, who combined a strong race, a detailed photo-essay, and a series of firefighter-gropings into an outstanding blog post.