The news that the marathon and the Oscars of next year of next year were double for March 15 caused a headache to the organizers of the two events, but a solution was found on Thursday and the marathon agreed to change the dates.
The 98th Oscars will be organized as initially planned, according to a press release published by the Los Angeles marathon and the Academy of Arts and Sciences of the Academy of Films. The McCourt Foundation, which organizes the marathon, will announce a new date of March for the race in the coming days.
In return, said the Academy, in the coming years, it will honor the tradition of the marathon to welcome the race on the third Sunday in March. The two organizations negotiated the agreement with the help of the mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, and agreed to work together to promote the events of the other “for the benefit of the Los Angeles community”, according to the press release.
Murphy Reinschreiber, chief of the McCourt Foundation, told Times that it would be logistically impossible to organize the two events on the same day.
The Oscars are organized at the Dolby Theater on Hollywood Boulevard, which is along the Marathon road. It is simply not possible for thousands of runners and spectators to pass the theater, then clean up the area and prepare to organize a red carpet event a few hours later, he said. The two events also require significant road closures, a deployment of the police and are disseminated by KTLA.
The Los Angeles marathonia generally involves 25,000 runners, thousands of volunteers, medical staff, police and city workers.
(Ringo Chiu / For Times)
The McCourt Foundation announced its marathon date in 2026 on March 15 of this year. Two days later, the Academy published a press release announcing that the 2026 Oscars were also scheduled for March 15.
Réinschreiber returned home after completing the cleaning of this year’s marathon, wishing to rest after having managed to execute the huge sporting event, when he learned the double reservation.
“It was confusing and the other thought that made me in mind is that there are simply no days off in this business,” he said. “It’s one thing after another.”
Moving a marathon is not an easy task. The event extends over a massive part of the city and involves more than 25,000 runners, thousands of volunteers, medical staff, police and workers in the city.
“There are two main installations – Dodger Stadium and Century City – linked by what is really a 26 -mile stage, and the number of people, communities and businesses that are all affected by a change of date is an astounding,” he said. “We will have to undergo an important community awareness program.”
More than 5,000 people have registered in the 2026 marathon, and they will have to be offered the possibility of reimbursement due to the change of date, he said.
Although the marathon generally takes place on the third Sunday in March, there were exceptions.
In 2009, he was transferred to the Memorial Day to reduce the disturbances of the Sunday’s faithful. He was returned to March the following year according to the comments of the community. In 2016, it took place on February 14, on Sunday, to coincide with the tests of an American Olympic marathon. Then, in 2021, the event was postponed until November due to the COVVI-19 pandemic.
The date of the Oscars is traditionally more flexible.
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