Can a marathon be a work of art?

 When posed the question, “Can a marathon be a work of art?” a group of approximately 30 representatives from city organizations and the Long Beach arts community were encouraged to take their ideas and run with them.

The purpose of the brainstorming session Wednesday morning at the Long Beach Museum of Art was to think of ways to transform the Long Beach International City Bank Marathon into a 26.2-mile art exhibit, which hopefully will be the new look of the event in 2011...

To launch the brainstorming session, Watson said artistic touches added to this year’s event will be mile markers decorated with artwork from children in the program at Miller Children’s Hospital; a 26-verse poem revealed sequentially in segments along the course by local poet Mindy Nettifee; and at the 22-mile mark, known to marathoners as “The Wall” because of stamina drain, will be high-energy performances from the Long Beach Mardi Gras team serving as encouragement to reach the finish line...

“Running is booming right now, and we’re grateful for that,” said John Parks, executive vice president of marketing for Run Racing. “Since October is arts month in Long Beach, our intent is to try and empower art work...

It occurred to me a couple years ago that a marathon could be a work of art,” Hunt said. “I mentioned it to Craig (Watson) around a year and a half ago, because the event draws a huge crowd of people in a great public space.”

Brilliant!

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