Congratulations to Daryl Evans, the Kings’ marathon man

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Kings radio analyst Daryl Evans didn’t plan to run the L.A. Marathon on Sunday. He didn’t train for it until the last month or so, and he entered at nearly the last minute.

But Evans, 49, was delighted to have entered. According to the official marathon results, he covered the course in five hours, five minutes and 12 seconds -- nearly three hours longer than it took winner Wesley Korir -- but the effort was a triumph in itself for Evans, who is in better shape now than during his playing days.

‘I enjoyed the course. It was nice leaving from where we left, coming through Hollywood and coming down Santa Monica Boulevard by Rodeo Drive. You got to see a lot of places that you normally don’t see,’ he said Monday.

‘The support was incredible. All along the course they had so many volunteers, and the reception at the end was great. You come around San Vicente and right along the water. The last little bit was gradual downhill. The first half was kind of little more uphill.’

The best part, he said, was the variety of the other participants, including some who ran in memory of loved ones or for charitable causes.

‘Just to see the different people from the different walks in life, a runner for so and so, handicapped people, people in wheelchairs, was incredible,’ he said. ‘This one guy was a real inspiration. Here he is coming to the finish line with two of his buddies, in a wheelchair, and they propped him up and he walked across at the end there. You sit there and go, ‘That’s pretty cool.’’

This wasn’t his first marathon -- and it won’t be his last. ‘I’m training for the next one,’ he said.

More on the Kings later at www.latimes.com/sports.

-- Helene Elliott