Stadium to the Stars: 10 Lessons from Stacey Embretson

When the McCourt Foundation took over the LA Marathon in 2008, the first thing they did was spend a year and a half reimagining the course. They knew that what people associate with Los Angeles — Rodeo Drive, Sunset Strip, the Walk of Fame — wasn't on the existing route. They built a new one that actually ran through the city's soul.

The result: Stadium to the Stars. Dodger Stadium to Century City. Through Chinatown, Silver Lake, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills. Through the neighborhoods people live in and love — not just the tourist highlights. That course created an entirely new identity for the race and has driven 30% year-over-year growth.

The LA Marathon runs through three cities — LA, Beverly Hills, and West Hollywood — plus Caltrans for the freeway closures. Every city has its own rules, its own public safety approach, its own timelines for reopening streets. Coordinating them is one of the most complex operational challenges in American road racing.

Stacey's solution: the annual Street Reopening Meeting. Every stakeholder, every city, every department — on a call together, walking through the reopening sequence from start to finish. What has emerged over years of doing this is something even more valuable: genuine relationships between cities. Beverly Hills now knows who to call in West Hollywood. West Hollywood knows who to call in Santa Monica. Those relationships, built through the marathon, became the foundation for LA2028 Olympic planning.

Stacey was direct about something most race directors are only beginning to internalize: the weather scenarios that used to be edge cases are now the expectation. The LA wildfires in January 2025 — historically a wet season — forced the postponement of the Rose Bowl Half Marathon with air quality reaching 342. That kind of event doesn't fit neatly into any contingency plan.

Her practical response: maintain cancellation insurance, build the fire hydrant tap at the finish line for unlimited water access, stock ice towels, and communicate proactively with runners the moment a situation develops — not after it's already scary.

Stacey spends race day in the command post, and her description of what actually gets managed there was a masterclass in operational reality. Suspicious packages. A fire on the course. A high-speed police chase heading toward the route. A truck losing water station supplies off the back. A goat on the course. Medical supplies stolen overnight.

The lesson: the most dangerous operational risks are the ones that feel too small to plan for. The big things get redundant protocols. The tiny things get forgotten. And on race day, it's always the tiny thing.

The LA Marathon has to reopen the streets when the time limit expires. That's a reality Stacey can't change. What she changed was how the back-of-pack runners experience that reality. Enter the Party Pacers: a team of volunteers in bright orange shirts, full of energy and enthusiasm, who accompany the final runners — whether they're on the course or the sidewalk — from wherever they are to the finish line.

The idea came from Lucy Murray, their program coordinator who was already embedded in the run clubs and community groups, listening to what runners actually needed. It cost almost nothing. And it transformed the back-of-pack experience entirely.

LA's Beyond the Bell program takes elementary school kids through a complete 26.2-mile training program across the school year. Not just a kids dash — a full marathon training experience with checkpoints, coaching, and structured progression. They had their 18-mile training run the week before our conversation. Over 3,000 children from more than 200 schools participate.

And the impact doesn't stop at the finish line. Kids who complete the program show higher graduation rates, better academic outcomes, and greater post-secondary success. Because running teaches them the one lesson that transfers to everything else: you can do hard things if you keep going.

Stacey was refreshingly direct about how Gen Z participants think about races. They're not primarily there for the time. They're there for the experience — and for the story they'll tell on social media after. That changes what matters at every touchpoint of the event.

LA's expo is now at Dodger Stadium, adjacent to the start line, with the stadium backdrop for start line photos. The beer garden is inside the Westfield Century City Mall. Every element is designed to be experienced and shared — not just functional.

Entry fees are one of the most charged topics in our industry right now. Stacey was honest about the reality: up to 50-60% of what a runner pays for a major city marathon goes purely to creating a safe, secure experience — police, fire, permits, Caltrans, K-rail, city services. Not to the finish line beer garden or the medal or the app. Just to close the streets and protect the runners.

After events like New Orleans, police departments are asking for dramatically expanded safety infrastructure. Those costs aren't in anyone's budget. And when organizations raise entry fees to cover them, runners feel it — without understanding why.

Stacey's hot take was delivered with the energy of someone who has been defending the LA Marathon's hills her entire career. And she's right. The conventional wisdom — flat equals fast equals good — is a misconception that dismisses some of the most scenic, community-rich, memorable courses in the sport.

Phil's PR came at the New York City Marathon — one of the hillier majors. LA has 940 feet of elevation gain. The combination of hills, crowds, and the city experience can unlock performances that a flat course never would. And even if it doesn't, the experience is its own reward.

When asked the single piece of advice she'd give to race organizers trying to grow, Stacey's answer was immediate and personal. She has people who have worked with her for 17 years. Not vendors. Not contractors. Friends — who she calls in when things go sideways because she knows they'll show up the same way she does.

In a year-round effort of this scale, the team is everything. No process or technology substitutes for people who care. Find them. Keep them. Reward them.