Malibu resident Glen Steele has approached the city about co-sponsoring a marathon in December. The council has not voted on whether to do so, however, the marathon Web site names the city as an event sponsor.
By Jon Carroll
Special to The Malibu Times
and Jonathan Friedman
Staff Writer
A local resident may have jumped the gun in naming the city of Malibu as a sponsor for a marathon he is organizing. At Monday’s meeting, the City Council was asked by local resident Glen Steele to co-sponsor the event, proposed to take place on Dec. 5 in Malibu. The council declined to take a vote on the request, deciding instead to send the item to the Parks and Recreation Commission. However, the city has been listed as a sponsor for the marathon on the event’s Web site.
Parks and Recreation Director Paul Adams, who is the city staff member that brought the co-sponsorship proposal to the council, said he was unaware the city of Malibu was listed as a sponsor when asked about it during a Tuesday telephone interview. Steele could not be reached for comment. Adams said he and Steele had been in communication about the event, and a draft agreement between the city and Steele’s newly created Malibu Marathon LLC had been formed.
“He [Steele] also should be clear that it is dependent on the council’s approval whether there is an agreement,” Adams said. “The city is not currently a sponsor for the marathon.”
The Malibu Marathon Web site also lists several other sponsors including the Snickers Marathon candy bar. Bertille Glass, a public relations representative for Master Foods USA, a division of Mars Inc. that makes the candy bar, said she was unaware of the sponsorship. She said nobody from the company’s California office was familiar with it either. But she said it was possible that a local representative for the candy bar agreed to sponsor the event.
Councilmember Jeff Jennings said at Monday’s meeting that he did not feel comfortable supporting a city co-sponsorship of the marathon until more information about the event was made available.
“Running a marathon is a fairly elaborate undertaking. I don’t know Mr. Steele, he could have put on 100 marathons or he could have put on none,” Jennings said. “That is the kind of information that I would want to know.”
Adams said the city had investigated Steele to find out if he was a legitimate event organizer. He said the conclusion was that he was one, although Adams said he did not know offhand what events Steele had organized before.
The marathon would require closing down one lane of Pacific Coast Highway from Cross Creek Road to Zuma Beach. A permit would be needed from Caltrans to close the highway. Adams said if the council was to co-sponsor the event, he would approach Caltrans about getting the permit, but he would not begin that process until the council gave its approval.
According to the staff report presented to the council, Malibu Marathon LLC is a for-profit company, but proceeds from the event would go to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Heal the Bay and the Malibu High School Shark Fund. Jennings said he wanted more information on how that would work. Cost for participation in the marathon is $80 to $90.
Steele app-roached the city about doing the marathon in January. A triathlete and marathoner, he told the The Malibu Times in an interview last month that he came up with the idea about a year ago. Participants in the Malibu Marathon would begin the run at Cross Creek Road. They would travel along a course up Civic Center Way to Malibu Canyon Road before turning onto Pacific Coast Highway. The route would then follow the highway to Leo Carrillo State Beach, where runners would use the underpass to access the southbound side of Pacific Coast Highway for the return to the finish line in the parking lot of Zuma Beach. A half-marathon was also being planned for the same day, as well as other community events during the weekend.
Steele said last month that “registration has been brisk” for the event. Adams said he had heard that Steele had been getting people to sign up for the event, but the city had not participated in that yet, because of the lack of a council co-sponsorship.