40th Los Angeles Marathon Presented by ASICS to Air Live on KTLA & Stream Worldwide on Sunday, March 16
Los Angeles, CA – March 12, 2025 – Savannah Berry is excited to run the Los Angeles Marathon presented by ASICS for the first time this weekend, and she’s hoping to have a bit of a home-court advantage when she runs along the iconic “Stadium to the Stars” course from Dodger Stadium to Century City.
As the top American runner in the women’s elite field, Berry, 29, is intent on running competitively with the strong pack of international runners and lowering her personal best of 2:29:13. The two-time U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon qualifier is coming off a strong showing at last fall’s New York City Marathon (16th place, 2:31:39). She also placed 12th at the 2024 Olympic Trials Marathon (2:29:17) last February in Orlando, Florida.
Berry lives in Orem, Utah, where she ran collegiately for Utah Valley University and works full-time as an academic advisor, but she grew up in Bakersfield, California, and still considers herself a California girl. Most of her family lives in Southern California, so she is expecting to have numerous relatives and friends along the course cheering her on. Berry ran many of her best collegiate track races in the Los Angeles area, so she’s familiar with the climate and weather conditions.
“I’m really excited to run the Los Angeles Marathon. I almost feel like there’s a little bit of a home-court advantage there, so I’m hoping that plays in this race, too,” she says. “It will be one of those races where hopefully I’ll be hearing people cheering sporadically the whole way, and that will fuel me and give me a boost.”
Berry got her first taste of what it takes to run 26.2 miles in 2018 at the California International Marathon (2:44:13), where she qualified for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon. Since then she’s lowered her personal best several times, including the second-place, 2:29:13 effort she turned in at the McKirdy Micro Marathon in the fall of 2023.
That effort convinced her to go all-in on the marathon under the guidance of coach Isaac Wood. After her strong effort in Orlando last year, she signed on to run professionally for ASICS and targeted the 2028 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon—the race that will determine which runners will represent Team USA in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics—as one of her primary long-term goals.
Since last fall, Berry has increased her weekly training volume to the 90- to 95-mile range during the peak weeks of her buildup to the Los Angeles Marathon. With 10 marathons under her belt, she’s a seasoned pro who’s still on the upswing.
“She’s a competitor,” Wood says. “As long as she gets an opportunity to compete, she runs well. When she’s been in a race that has had significant meaning behind it, she just brings it.”
Berry has been training occasionally in the Salt Lake City area with fellow ASICS runner Makenna Morley, who ran a strong race and finished fifth in the 2024 Los Angeles Marathon. The two have talked about the course details and how the race might play out.
“The marathon has taught me a lot about myself and about life,” Berry said. “Running a marathon is a constant burn, but it’s never really an unbearable feeling. The key is you have to shift your focus a bit so you don’t let it become unbearable, and that’s the same when things get busy or stressful in life, too. And the other big thing that the marathon has taught me is that whatever you think is your limit, there’s always a little bit more you can do.”
The top women who will be toeing the starting line at Dodger Stadium along with Berry are Antonina Kwambai (Kenya, 2:23:20), who placed fourth in the Seville Marathon in 2024, and Tejinesh Gebisa (Ethiopia, 2:24:37), who placed second in the Marrakech Marathon in 2023. Sheila Chebet (Kenya, 2:33:48), Mamitu Balcha Hey (Ethiopia, 2:39:56) and Rita Jelagat (Kenya, 1:11:12 half marathon) add depth to the field.
Other top American women runners include three-time U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon competitor Caitlin Chrisman of Mountain View, Calif., (2:40:29), Caitlin Healey of Canoga Park, Calif., (2:48:12), Ashley Paulson of St. George, Utah, (2:48:48), Brittany Leuenberger, of Johnson City, Tennessee (2:51:04), Elizabeth Ben-Ishai, of Pasadena, Calif. (2:53:05), and Alejandra Santiago, of Los Angeles, (2:58:40), Paulson finished fourth in the 2023 Los Angeles Marathon, Ben-Ishai is a winner of several Los Angeles-area road races, including the 2024 Rose Bowl Half Marathon, and Santiago is a member of the Angel City Elite training club who was the fifth finisher in the women’s open division at the 2024 Los Angeles Marathon.
2025 Los Angeles Marathon Women’s Elite Field
Bib # — Athlete, Country, Personal Best
100 — Antonina Kwambai, Kenya, 2:23:20
101 — Tejinesh Gebisa Tulu, Ethiopia, 2:24:37
103 — Savannah Berry, U.S., 2:29:13
104 — Rita Jelagat, Kenya, 1:11:12 (half marathon)
105 — Sheila Chebet, Kenya, 2:33:48
106 — Mamitu Balcha Hey, Ethiopia, 2:39:56
107 — Caitlin Chrisman , U.S., 2:40:29
108 — Elizabeth Ben-Ishai, Canada, 2:53:05
109 — Caitlin Healey, U.S. 2:48:12
110 — Ashley Litoff, U.S., 1:17 (half marathon)
111 — Brittany Leuenberger, U.S., 2:51
112 — Jessica Gimbel, U.S., 2:59
113 — Alejandra Santiago, U.S., 2:58
114 — Ashley Paulson, U.S. 2:48
The event will be broadcast live on KTLA Channel 5 from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. PT on Sunday, March 16. Viewers can also stream the event internationally on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/LAMarathon and KTLA.com. At the front of the pack, women and men in the elite field will once again battle in the Marathon Chase, an exciting 26.2-mile race-within-a-race competition in an all-out duel to the finish line on Santa Monica Boulevard. Since its inception in 2004, the Marathon Chase format has resulted in a 10-4 advantage for women, including an exciting finish last year, when Kenya’s Stacy Ndiwa (2:25:29) held off men’s champion Dominic Ngeno (2:11:01) to win the bonus for the second consecutive year.
Fastest Women’s Times in Los Angeles Marathon history
1. 2:24:11 – 2019 – Askale Marachi (ETH)
2. 2:25:04 – 2022 – Delvine Meringor (KEN)
3. 2:25:10 – 2006 – Lidiya Grigoryeva (RUS)
4. 2:25:29 – 2024 – Stacy Ndiwas (KEN)
5. 2:25:38 – 2010 – Edna Kiplagat (KEN)
The Los Angeles Marathon presented by ASICS is operated by The McCourt Foundation (TMF) an organization whose mission is to cure neurological diseases while empowering communities to build a healthier world. For more information about the 2025 Los Angeles Marathon presented by ASICS, visit www.LAmarathon.com.
About The McCourt Foundation / Los Angeles Marathon
The McCourt Foundation (TMF) empowers communities to build a healthier world through research, education, and events. TMF’s mission is to cure neurological diseases while empowering communities to build a healthier world. TMF makes a difference by donating to neurology research, hosting educational forums, and using our events such as the Los Angeles Marathon, Rose Bowl Half Marathon & 5K, Santa Monica Classic, Boston Waterfront 5K, and Tour de South Shore, as platforms to raise funds for over 105 nonprofit charity partners. Since its inception, TMF has donated more than $6.7 million to neurology research and generated more than $72M for our nonprofit charity partners. Established in 1992, TMF is a 501 (c)(3) with offices in Boston, MA and Los Angeles, CA. For more information, visit mccourtfoundation.org.
