That means traffic hiccups between downtown and La Cienega Boulevard (from 3rd Street down to Martin Luther King, but see the map below for details) all morning—and sightings of lean, sore but fulfilled runners in restaurants the rest of the day. Starting line is 6th and Figueroa: 7:50 am for wheelchairs, 7:57 for elite women, 8:05 for hand crank wheelchairs and 8:17 for all other runners. The bike tour starts at 5:50 near USC. Here's the main website and, in case you are curious, the instructions for runners.

Street closures are based on on the field setting a pace of 13 minutes a mile. Slower runners and walkers are warned: "Please be prepared for the streets to be re-opened to vehicular traffic, i.e. those running slower than a pace expected to finish in 6 hours will be subject to the streets re-opening and will have to continue the remainder of the race on the sidewalks obeying all traffic laws." According to the anony-blogger L.A. City Nerd, snarls could be worse than usual because the engineers who staff the city's traffic center are boycotting marathon duty as part of their union's dispute with Mayor Villaraigosa.