A rolling, point-to-point course like the LA Marathon punishes runners who pace by a single fixed number more than a flat course does. Because the terrain genuinely changes shape from mile to mile, the smarter approach is pacing by effort through the hard sections and letting the clock catch up on the easier ones — not the other way around.
Don't race the early downhill
The drop out of Dodger Stadium through downtown is fast enough that goal pace can feel almost too easy in the opening miles. That's exactly the trap. Runners who bank time here consistently pay for it later, because the effort of controlling a downhill still costs the legs something, even when the pace feels comfortable. Treat the first few miles as controlled, not free — aim for goal effort, not a personal best on the split.
Climb the Echo Park and Silver Lake rollers by effort
The course's steepest sustained climbing comes early, through Echo Park and Silver Lake, on a series of punchy rolling hills. This is where fixed-pace runners tend to blow up their effort trying to hold a number that the terrain doesn't support. The better approach is to let pace slow on the climbs and recover on the descents, judging effort by breathing and perceived exertion rather than watching the numbers tick by. You'll get the time back later on the course's more favorable terrain.
Bank the Beverly Hills descent cautiously
Around the halfway point, the course delivers its most significant single downhill on the approach to Beverly Hills. It's tempting to let gravity do the work and post a fast split here, but a hard downhill mid-race does real damage to the quads — damage that shows up as fatigue in the final miles, not immediately. Run this section with short, controlled strides rather than long, loose ones, and resist the urge to spend everything the hill offers you.
Protect your legs and your fueling through the Brentwood turnaround
The stretch through Westwood and Brentwood, including the course's turnaround toward Century City, is the least crowd-lined and most exposed section of the race. It's also where fatigue and, in warmer years, heat tend to compound. This is the point in the race to be proactive rather than reactive about fueling and hydration — take in calories and electrolytes before you feel like you need them, since the effects of under-fueling here won't show up until the final miles, when it's too late to fix.
Save something for the final climb into Century City
The closing miles trend downhill overall, which is genuinely useful if you've paced the earlier sections well. But the course isn't finished asking things of you: there's a short climb built into the final stretch back into Century City, right where tired legs are least equipped to handle it. Runners who ran the earlier downhills conservatively and the earlier climbs by effort tend to have enough left to handle this final rise and finish strong rather than survive it.
- Miles 1-4 (Dodger Stadium to Downtown): controlled effort, not a fast split, despite the net-downhill start.
- Miles 4-8ish (Echo Park/Silver Lake): pace by effort through the rolling climbs; expect to slow.
- Miles 8-13ish (Hollywood to West Hollywood): settle into goal pace as the terrain evens out.
- Around halfway (Beverly Hills): bank the big descent cautiously, not freely.
- Later miles (Westwood/Brentwood): fuel and hydrate proactively through the exposed turnaround.
- Final miles (back to Century City): ride the net-downhill trend but keep enough in reserve for the last climb to the finish.
Training that actually prepares you for this course
Because the course mixes early climbing, a significant mid-race descent, and a late, exposed, flatter stretch, training that only covers one of those textures will leave you underprepared for the others. Hill-repeat workouts build the strength to climb the Echo Park and Silver Lake rollers without blowing up your heart rate; dedicated downhill running, ideally on an actual grade rather than flat ground, teaches your legs to absorb impact without shredding your quads on the Beverly Hills descent; and longer runs late in a training cycle, done without shade and with a real fueling plan, mimic the demands of the Brentwood turnaround better than a shaded, flat long run ever will.