L.A. Marathon 2012: Frank McCourt Deserves Credit for Not Ruining Marathon, Too

Saying anything nice about Frank McCourt while standing in the vicinity of a Los Angeles Dodgers fan would probably be akin to listening to Black Sabbath on your iPod during a church service.

Totally inappropriate, in other words.

But McCourt does deserve some credit in Los Angeles for improving the Los Angeles Marathon since he purchased the operating rights in 2008.

Along with some necessary tweaks like adding a staggered start for the men and women so the elite racers from each sex could race against one another, he also developed a much better route for participants to run.

From David Wharton of the Los Angeles Times:

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Setting a new route was no simple matter, not with streets to be closed and traffic to be diverted. It required negotiations with officials from Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica to hammer out a deal.

The resulting "Stadium to the Sea" course debuted in 2010, leaving from Chavez Ravine and passing landmarks such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Grauman's Chinese Theater and Rodeo Drive before ending at the Pacific Ocean.

Just as important, it traveled mainly downhill and finished in cooler temperatures at the coast, which makes for faster times that appeal to elite runners.

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Sure, McCourt bankrupt the Dodgers and is one of the most loathed figures in Los Angeles sports at the present moment. He's earned that ire.

But he does deserve some credit for making the Los Angeles race a more distinguished event, and one that is set up to eventually compete with some of the more prestigious marathons like the ones held in Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York.

Is this any consolation to Dodgers fans?

Probably not—I'm not sure how many baseball fans care about the prestige of the local marathon.

But at least for now, he isn't breaking any marathon-running hearts. And with all of the not-so-subtle jabs I've taken at him in this article—and all of the jabs he's received in many baseball circles, I'm sure—he at least deserves some credit for a job well done with the L.A. Marathon.

Hit me up on Twitter—I've tweeted from Lehigh's campus before. Seriously.