Pasadena marathon canceled due to poor air quality

Sunday's Pasadena Marathon had to be canceled because of poor air quality from the raging California wildfires.

The race was called mere hours before 8,000-plus participants were to hit the streets for a 26.2-mile run.

"We have two monsters going," said race medical director Alexander Espinoza, a doctor in the sports medicine department at Kaiser-Permanente, the event's major sponsor. "We have the heat, but we were prepared for the heat. When we have heat plus poor air quality, it was going to be horrible."

According to the ContraCostaTimes:

"The Sayre Fire was burning 25 miles to the northwest of Pasadena while the Triangle Complex Fire was raging some 45 miles to the southeast in the direction of Chino Hills.

If the event took place, Espinoza said the participants could have felt effects such as a scratchy throat, tightness of the chest, stinging and burning of the eyes and shortness of breath.

Race director Israel Estrada also said the marathon was insured for everything except cancellation, which means entry fees might not be refunded. Rescheduling remains in doubt.

"Unfortunately we have incurred a lot of expenses that we're just not going to get back, including $100,000 at least from the city just for the police and fire departments," Estrada said. "Hopefully the city will work with us and give us a (reschedule) date so we can announce it soon.

"I want to honor all of the participants who paid their registration, but we have to figure out how we're going to deal with the huge costs that we have incurred."