Los Angeles Marathon 2027: The Complete Guide to Stadium to the Stars

Most big-city marathons show you a city. The LA Marathon shows you an argument about what a city even is.

You start inside Dodger Stadium at sunrise, drop through Chinatown and Little Tokyo, roll over the hills of Echo Park and Silver Lake, run the length of Hollywood, pass through West Hollywood, head down Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, touch Westwood and Brentwood, and finish on Avenue of the Stars in Century City. Very few marathons pack this much of a sprawling, contradictory, endlessly photographed city into 26.2 miles.

The 2027 edition falls on Sunday, March 7 — the 42nd consecutive running of a race born out of the 1984 Olympics. And with LA hosting the Games again in 2028, there’s an added reason to run these streets now.

Here’s everything you need to know.

ASICS Los Angeles Marathon 2027: Race Overview

Official Name: ASICS Los Angeles Marathon
Date: Sunday, March 7, 2027 (42nd edition)
Race Weekend: March 5-7, 2027
Start Time: 7:00 AM (wheelchair and handcycle divisions start earlier)
Start Line: Dodger Stadium
Finish Line: Santa Monica Blvd at Avenue of the Stars, Century City
Course: “Stadium to the Stars” — point-to-point, USATF certified
Time Limit: 6 hours 30 minutes from when the last person crosses the start line
Field Size: Around 27,000 registered participants
Certification: Boston Qualifier
Owner: The McCourt Foundation
Registration: First-come, first-served — no lottery, no qualifying time
Established: 1986

Race Weekend Schedule

• Friday, March 5: Lifestyle Expo and bib pick-up
• Saturday, March 6: Expo continues; LA 5K and LA Kids Run
• Sunday, March 7: ASICS Los Angeles Marathon and LA Charity Half Marathon

Important: This Is Not “Stadium to the Sea” Anymore

If you’ve read older guides or heard about LA from a runner who did it years ago, you may have the wrong course in your head.

From 2010 to 2020, the LA Marathon ran the “Stadium to the Sea” route, starting at Dodger Stadium and finishing at the Santa Monica Pier. That course was famous, scenic, and genuinely fast. It no longer exists.

Since 2021, the race has used the “Stadium to the Stars” course, finishing on Santa Monica Boulevard at Avenue of the Stars in Century City. The new route has more hills, a tougher finish, and an out-and-back section in the closing miles. It is a harder course than its predecessor.

This matters for goal-setting. Plan for the course you’re actually running.

The Course: Mile by Mile

The route is technically net downhill and point-to-point, but that description flatters it considerably. What you actually get is rolling terrain throughout, with a genuinely demanding final stretch.

Miles 0-5: Dodger Stadium, Chinatown, Little Tokyo

You begin inside Dodger Stadium in Chavez Ravine at sunrise — one of the great start lines in American running. The opening miles drop steeply out of the stadium and into downtown, passing through Chinatown and Little Tokyo.

Strategy: This is the fastest, easiest part of the day and the single biggest trap on the course. The net downhill plus adrenaline plus 27,000 runners around you makes goal pace feel free. It isn’t. Every second banked here gets repaid with heavy interest on Santa Monica Boulevard at mile 24. Also note that the early miles can be congested on narrower streets — accept it rather than weaving.

Miles 5-13: Echo Park, Silver Lake, Hollywood

The course climbs and rolls through Echo Park and Silver Lake before running the length of Hollywood, past the Walk of Fame and the neighborhood’s landmarks. Crowd support through here is among the best on the course.

Strategy: The rolling terrain starts in earnest. Run by effort, not pace — let your splits vary with the terrain rather than fighting to hold an even number on every climb.

Miles 13-18: West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive

Through West Hollywood and into Beverly Hills, including the run down Rodeo Drive. This is the postcard section of the race, and a good stretch of road for settling into rhythm.

Strategy: Halfway assessment point. Be honest with yourself here about whether your first-half pace was sustainable, and adjust before the course starts asking hard questions.

Miles 18-26.2: Westwood, Brentwood, and the Out-and-Back Finish

From roughly mile 18 the course runs an out-and-back through Westwood and Brentwood before returning to Century City, with a final uphill push on Santa Monica Boulevard to the finish at Avenue of the Stars.

Two things make this section hard. The obvious one is the closing climb, which arrives when your legs have nothing left. The less obvious one is psychological: out-and-back sections are mentally brutal late in a marathon. You’ll see runners heading back toward the finish while you’re still going out, and you’ll cover ground you know you have to repeat.

Strategy: Save something for this. Genuinely. Break it into the turnaround first, then the return, then the climb. Walk the steepest pitch if you need to — it costs less than blowing up entirely.

Course Summary

• Point-to-point, USATF certified, Boston Qualifier eligible
• Technically net downhill, but rolling throughout
• Steep drop out of Dodger Stadium in the opening miles
• Out-and-back section from approximately mile 18
• Uphill finish on Santa Monica Boulevard
• Entirely paved road on major LA boulevards

The Weather Question

March in Los Angeles is usually pleasant. Occasionally it is not, and that’s the risk worth planning for.

A 7:00 AM start means most runners finish between 10:00 AM and 1:30 PM, which puts the back half of the field out in the warmest part of the day. The 2026 edition ran in unusually hot, dry conditions, and heat is the most common thing that turns a good LA Marathon into a survival exercise.

Practical implications:

• Have a heat plan even if the forecast looks mild — adjust goal pace early rather than late
• Drink at every aid station from the start, not from the point you feel thirsty
• Wear a cap and sunglasses; LA sun is bright even when it isn’t hot
• Sunscreen, applied before the start
• If you’re coming from a cold-weather winter, you’ll have trained through months of cool temperatures and be poorly acclimated to warmth — factor that into your goal

Registration

LA is refreshingly straightforward compared to the lottery marathons. There is no ballot and no qualifying time — registration is first-come, first-served through the official site. That makes it one of the more accessible major American city marathons.

It does, however, sell out. Pricing is tiered, so entering early saves money as well as securing your place. Recent editions have started in the region of $180 and risen from there.

The one rule to read carefully

The LA Marathon’s policy is unusually strict: no refunds, transfers, or deferrals for any reason — including cancellation, a shortened course, a virtual edition, or the race being rescheduled. If you register, you’re committed. Weigh that before you enter if your season is uncertain.

Other entry routes

• Charity entry (Team TMF): Fundraise for The McCourt Foundation and receive free entry plus perks including a VIP tent, Corral A access, and free LA Road Runners membership. Recent minimums have been around $725, with higher tiers offering additional benefits.
• Other charity partners: Numerous organizations hold entries in exchange for fundraising commitments.
• Military and first responder discount: Through a GovX partnership, a 10% discount is offered to active duty and retired military, first responders, and law enforcement.
• Para Athlete Division: The race maintains a dedicated division with its own arrangements.

Race Morning Logistics — Read This Twice

Getting to Dodger Stadium is comfortably the hardest part of running the LA Marathon, and it catches out first-timers every year.

The problems: cars cannot park overnight at Dodger Stadium, Stadium Way exits from the 110 are closed on race morning, and 27,000 people are all trying to reach the same hilltop at the same time.

The recommended approach: park near the finish in Century City and take a free shuttle to the start. Shuttles have historically run continuously from around 3:00 AM to 5:30 AM from Avenue of the Stars (south of Olympic Blvd), with a second pickup point at 500 S. Figueroa in Downtown LA. This also means your car is waiting where you finish, which is exactly what you want at 1 PM with destroyed quads.

Many partner hotels downtown run their own morning shuttles. Confirm with yours when you book.

Gear check: You check your bag at Dodger Stadium and the organizers truck it to the finish line in Century City.

Shuttle times shift slightly year to year — confirm the 2027 schedule on the official site during race week.

Where to Stay

LA is enormous and traffic is the defining fact of local life, so proximity matters more here than in most marathon cities.

• Downtown LA: Closest to the start, good shuttle access, many partner hotels. Strong choice for race logistics.
• Century City / Beverly Hills: At the finish. Easy post-race, but you’ll need the early shuttle to the start.
• Santa Monica: Pleasant base for a longer trip, but further from both start and finish.
• Hollywood: Mid-course, central, plenty of options.

Whichever you choose, book early and think carefully about how you’ll get to Dodger Stadium before dawn.

Training for LA

The course profile should shape your build.

Train downhill running. The opening miles drop hard out of Chavez Ravine, and downhill running is an eccentric load that wrecks unprepared quads. Practice descending with quick, light steps rather than braking.

Train rolling terrain. Not big mountain climbs — repeated moderate hills, run at marathon effort. This is exactly what LA gives you for twenty miles.

Practice finishing uphill on tired legs. Fast-finish long runs that end with a climb are the single most course-specific session you can do.

Do some heat exposure work in the final weeks if you’re training through a cold winter.

Timeline: For a March 7, 2027 race, a 16-20 week block means starting structured training in mid-to-late October 2026 — which means training through the winter for most Northern Hemisphere runners.

What Makes LA Worth Running

The start line

Beginning a marathon inside Dodger Stadium, in the dark, with the field spread across the parking terraces and the sun coming up over Chavez Ravine, is one of the genuinely distinctive moments in American road racing.

The neighborhoods

Most marathons tour a downtown. LA gives you Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Echo Park, Silver Lake, Hollywood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Westwood, Brentwood, and Century City — a genuine cross-section of one of the most diverse cities on earth.

No lottery

In an era where Tokyo, London, Berlin, and New York have made entry a matter of luck, LA remains a major-city marathon you can simply decide to run.

The legacy runners

A small group of “legacy” runners have completed every single edition of the LA Marathon since 1986. They’re out there on the course every year, and they’re one of the more moving things about the event.

The Olympic bookends

The race was founded on the momentum of the 1984 Olympics, and LA hosts the Games again in 2028. Running the city’s marathon in the run-up has a certain symmetry.

Is LA Right for You?

Good choice if you:

• Want a guaranteed entry to a major American city marathon without a lottery
• Value the experience and the tour over an absolute PR
• Are comfortable with rolling terrain and a hard finish
• Want an early-season goal race in March
• Can handle the possibility of warm conditions
• Are combining the race with a California trip

Consider elsewhere if you:

• Are chasing a flat-course PR or a marginal Boston qualifier — LA is BQ-eligible but not an easy BQ course
• Need refund or deferral flexibility
• Struggle badly in heat
• Want simple race-morning logistics

Beyond the Race

You’ll have run past a fair amount of the city already, but LA rewards a few extra days:

• Griffith Observatory for the view over everything you just ran
• Santa Monica and Venice Beach — including the Venice Beach Boardwalk, which will host the 2028 Olympic marathon
• The Getty Center and LACMA
• Grand Central Market in downtown
• Malibu and the Pacific Coast Highway for a drive with recovering legs

The Bottom Line

The LA Marathon isn’t the fastest race in America, and it stopped pretending to be when the course moved inland in 2021. What it offers instead is a 26.2-mile tour through a city that most visitors only ever see from a car window, on a course that starts in a baseball stadium and ends among the towers of Century City.

Go in knowing what the course actually is — rolling, warm, with a hard out-and-back and an uphill finish — set a goal that respects it, and sort out your race-morning shuttle plan well in advance. Do those three things and LA delivers one of the more memorable days in American marathoning.

The 42nd ASICS Los Angeles Marathon takes place Sunday, March 7, 2027. No lottery, no qualifying time — just register before it sells out.

Ready to add LA to your race history? Track your training and race day at RunningLog — set your goals, log your finish, and build the complete record of your running life.

Have you run the LA Marathon? Planning to in 2027? Share your experience or questions on Instagram or Threads.