These dedicated runners have done every LA Marathon for nearly 4 decades

LOS ANGELES (AP) — They have run through heartache and grief, battling illnesses and injuries as their bodies have aged. Some are now using wheelchairs, including the oldest who is 87.

Despite it all, the Los Angeles Marathon's Legacy Runners have stuck to their mission: finish the race.

On Sunday, the group of 92 marathoners, including 10 women, marked their 40th LA Marathon, participating in the 26.2-mile (42.2-kilometer) race every year since the city's iconic event began in 1986.

“We’re legacy runners, we just don’t know when to quit,” 77-year-old Lou Briones said.

Briones even has finished the race on crutches after surgery. Since getting both knees replaced, he walks the race.

“You gotta do it,” Briones said. “No matter what the conditions are, you gotta be there at the starting line on race day.”

When Briones and others gathered at the starting line for the first LA marathon, President Ronald Reagan had just been reelected and few weeks prior the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded, shocking the country. Tom Bradley was serving as the first Black mayor of Los Angeles and the city was grappling with the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Los Angeles was inspired to start its own marathon after the success of hosting the 1984 Summer Olympic Games, much like the beginning of the Boston Marathon in 1897 after the first marathon competition was held in the 1896 Summer Olympics. Los Angeles is now preparing to host its next Olympics in 2028.

Five years after the LA Marathon started, event organizers began recognizing runners who had completed every race with a plaque. They continued to hold celebrations for the dedicated runners every five years.

Around the 15th year, Briones decided he wanted to formalize the group. He and a friend printed out stickers with an email address and brought them to the marathon in 2002.

“We went to the race and we just started yelling out,” Briones said. “We’d stick it right on their bib, and then after the race, most of them immediately sent an email. That was the beginning.”

Some Legacy Runners said they were inspired by U.S. runner Joan Benoit, who won the first Olympic women’s marathon at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

May DuBois, 80, remembers watching the race on TV and seeing Benoit finish far ahead of the rest of the pack of runners. A classical pianist, she had never run in her life.

Two years later, DuBois ran the same path as Benoit — starting and ending at the Memorial Coliseum — since back then, the LA Marathon route was the same as the Olympics. She said it felt just “like running in the Olympics with everybody cheering us on.”

Now, she can’t imagine going a day without running 3 to 5 miles (4.8 to 8 km).

“I’m healthy, I look good, and I don’t get tired. I never get sick, I don’t even catch colds,” said DuBois, who hosts a brunch to celebrate after each marathon.

Each year, Legacy Runners are given the same bib number. They start meeting monthly for training about six months before the marathon.

Cliff Housego, 76, started running after his father died at 48 from a heart attack. He decided he wanted to live long enough to see his grandchildren and even great-grandchildren.

Over the years, Housego has gone through two divorces and lost his daughter. Through it all, the marathon has been a constant in his life.

“Many, many things could’ve stopped me from being there,” Housego said.

At 83, Sharon Kerson realizes that, too.

After a year of dealing with sickness and vertigo, Kerson completed her training last week at the West Los Angeles College track, the same place she first started running more than 40 years ago. She has run more than 600 marathons.

She wore a rain jacket from the St. George Marathon in Utah, shorts from the San Francisco Marathon and a T-shirt from the 30th LA Marathon.

“I never was fast and I’m not competitive at all,” Kerson said, adding that her only goal each time is to finish.

Rick Bingham began racing in a wheelchair a decade ago after injuring his Achilles tendon during a triathlon. At 87, he swims half a mile (0.8 kilometer) every other day and lifts weights. To train, he went 5 miles (8 kilometers) one day around his ranch in a wheelchair.

Bingham has no plans to slow down. He wants to reach his 50th LA Marathon.

“I’ll only be 97 when I do that,” he said.

Bingham's commitment to remaining in the race has inspired Luis Gallardo to continue.

Gallardo, 71, was planning to quit after his 38th marathon, when his knees gave out. But he began training again when Bingham offered him his extra racing wheelchair.

“We went through too many things over the years, too many hardships,” Gallardo said. “To do it with him is just a blessing.”

Gallardo’s goal is now to reach the 50th LA marathon with Bingham.

After that, he said, he will find a way to finish the race with his friend, even carrying him across the finish line if he has to.