Women’s Head Start in the L.A. Marathon

Re “For Runners, an Ideal Day to Reach Goals,” March 7: There are runners; some are men; some are women. They all run with the same equipment. Why are women given a head start advantage? I foresee in the near future that a woman with the right physical characteristics, the motivation to win and a little luck will beat the leading man’s time. This time advantage for the women should be eliminated.

Donald L. Hager

Los Angeles

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Might we recommend that you ask the person who came up with the brainchild to run men and women against each other competitively in the L.A. Marathon to retire from the post that gave him or her the power to bring such an idea to fruition. The finishing times fluctuate unpredictably from year to year, even on the same course.

This fantasy to have a photo finish with an additional $75,000 in prize money put an unnecessary additional and psychological strain on the athletes. No computer program can compensate for performance differences in humans. Have men compete against men and women against women and let the winners divide the winnings evenly.

Heinz and Janice Fischer

Long Beach

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I am so sorry for poor Lyubov Denisova, the L.A. Marathon women’s division winner. I agree with her that the men had a big advantage. It was truly terrible that she and the other elite women runners only had a 15-minute, 50-second head start over the elite men. How are women ever going to be able to prove themselves equal to men without a greater head start?

Daryl Smith

Chatsworth