The Los Angeles Times Profiles the Great Los Angeles Walk!

Thanks to the Los Angeles Times and writer Deborah Vankin for this wonderful profile of me and the Great Los Angeles Walk, which ran on Friday as part of the newspaper's week-long series of articles about walking in L.A.

I spent time with Deborah a few weeks ago to talk about the Walk, why I started it and continue to do it -- for love of community, of course. And this year in particular, after the terrible week many of us just experienced, I think it will be more important than ever (and perhaps healing and therapeutic) for us to all get together on November 23.

I loved Deborah's flourishes in the story, and my family and friends are also getting a kick over some of the descriptions. But she accurately captured my passions about, yes, walking in L.A., but also the city itself, my love of course of TV and other things.

In ’99, he landed a job as a reporter at Variety and met his wife, Maria. He wasn’t much of an exerciser, but she liked to walk. Their early dates were spent exploring the city on foot, including taking Los Angeles Conservancy walking tours downtown and hiking in Griffith Park. Schneider fell in love with L.A. history and found that walking its concrete stretches helped him feel more rooted in the city.

“When I first came to L.A., I was like: Where is the core?” he says. “I didn’t understand why people didn’t know where to congregate. Now I get it. It’s all these different cores.”

Schneider also has collected handfuls of odd, serendipitous moments from the Great Walk. The event has passed weddings in progress, film crews shooting, even buildings on fire. Once, in 2009, the group streamed past the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center on Washington Boulevard and Magic Johnson appeared in the window to cheer them on. Two years earlier, on Pico Boulevard, a crane holding a billboard toppled over and chaos ensued.

“Traffic stopped, police were everywhere, no one could get through,” Schneider recalls. “But here we were, just walking on by.”

Schneider doesn’t make any money off of the Great Walk; it’s free to participants and he doesn’t pay to advertise the event. In recent years, there have been sponsors, including The Times, who might give him free ads, say, or pass out water in exchange for a mention on the blog.

“But there’s no business model,” Schneider says. “We’re not an official organization. This is just a grassroots group of people getting together to walk.”

Nineteen years of crisscrossing L.A. on foot has given Schneider a rare, bird’s-eye-view of the city, from a boots-on-the-ground perspective.

Thanks to the Los Angeles Times, we'll be passing out copies of their "Walk On, LA!" special section at the start of this year's event!

Read more here.

The Great LA Walk 2024 Email Blast Is Out!

Our first email blast went out today -- if you signed up for the email list but didn't get it, check your spam folder!

This year’s Walk will meet at the city’s oldest palm tree (on Exposition Park Drive just off Figueroa Street, at the West 39th Street intersection.) at 9 a.m. on Nov. 23. We’ll walk through Exposition Park to Vermont Ave., and head north to Washington Blvd. which we’ll take to Culver City. From there, we’ll head north — first on Overland, and then we’ll move over (via Pico) to Westwood. And then we’ll end at the Bruin statue on the UCLA campus.

All told, this year’s Walk will clock about 14 and a half miles — which makes it a bit shorter than most of our downtown-to-the-ocean walks, but it also gives you more time to explore — especially in the afternoon, as we walk on the vibrant Westwood Blvd.

If you're new to the event, here's the basics: This is an unofficial event, which means you're walking on your own accord. (Obviously, as there's no fee of any kind.) It sounds like a long walk, but it's an all-day event where people talk their time to explore, eat, meet and have fun. You can walk as much or as little as you want. You can walk as fast or as slow as you want. You can meet us half way. It's all up to you.

The goal is to see and explore you city on foot, building community along the way. Bring your friends, tell your neighbors. We're a little grassroots event that gets bigger each year. If you have ideas or contacts for businesses and restaurants we should visit along the way, please let us know!

We’ll have a PDF map, as well as lunch options, listed soon as well.

Questions? Feel free to email greatlawalk@mail.com. We hope to see you on November 23, as we celebrate community and get a chance to interact with our fellow Angelenos!

Great LA Walk 2024 T-Shirts Are Ready to Order!

Order soon, so they're in your mailbox before the Walk on Nov. 23! As always, we don't make a dime off these shirts and sweatshirts, they're just a fun way to show your participation in this year's Walk! There are a wide variety of shirts, sweatshirts and hoodies for people of all sizes and ages. This year, with our walk from USC to UCLA, pick your school color: Blue/Navy Blue for UCLA, or red/maroon for USC! Scroll through to see all the choices for the shirts -- t-shirts, sweatshirts, long-sleeve shirts, hoodies, even polos.

There's a link on the side; below; or just go directly to our Spreadshirt page at https://greatlawalk.myspreadshop.com/.

We Have a Starting Point for This Year's Walk! Meet At Los Angeles' Oldest Living Palm Tree, Found in Exposition Park

Believe it or not, that palm tree that you see in this photo, as we're facing the Memorial Coliseum, is the oldest surviving palm tree in Los Angeles. As L.A. author and local historian D.J. Waldie writes, this palm has been around since at least the 1850s, and has moved around several times. It's believed to have been at Expo Park since 1914 — but even that is in question.

These days, the palm tree seems to go pretty much unnoticed, a footnote in our history. So let's bring some love to it as we kick off the 19th Annual Great Los Angeles Walk in Exposition Park on Saturday, November 23, 2024! And we'll do it in the "Christmas Tree Lane Park" right next to the BMO Stadium and facing the Coliseum — which is where USC normally plays. (Don't worry, this year's USC-UCLA matchup that day takes place at the Rose Bowl, far from where we'll be walking.) 

Meet at the palm tree at 9 a.m. Nov. 23, and from there we will be making our way to UCLA, ending at the Bruin statue on campus. Stay tuned for more details on the exact route! But go ahead and start planning your transportation now... more to come!

Get Ready For the Great Los Angeles Walk 2024!

We're less than two months away from this year's Great Los Angeles Walk on Saturday, November 23, 2024! And yes, the USC and UCLA logos above is a hint to this year's route. More to come -- make sure you're on our mailing list for more details! greatlawalk@mail.com

Join Us on the Nyad Ocean Walk This Sunday!

World-wide inspiration Diana Nyad and her Cuba Expedition Leader Bonnie Stoll—the subjects of the recent Netflix hit NYAD—will lead the NYAD OCEAN WALK, a 10k walk in Santa Monica, CA, on Sunday, March 24, 2024.

The walk is hosted by Nyad and Stoll’s non-profit, EverWalk, in partnership with The Great Los Angeles Walk and Plastic Pollution Coalition. Nyad and Stoll will mix in with everybody, including offering photo ops with the NYAD movie poster. They dedicate this walk to awareness about the impact of plastic pollution in the world’s oceans.

“Bonnie and I have created a movement called EverWalk, reprising the love we found for our blue planet out on the ocean to that same awe as we walk the planet,” Nyad said.

Nyad’s epic swim from Cuba to Florida (Sept 2, 2013, 111 miles, 53 hours) is captured in the hit Netflix movie NYAD, starring Annette Bening as Nyad and Jodie Foster as her coach Stoll, both of whom are Oscar nominees for their roles.
EverWalk firmly supports the vision of the Plastic Pollution Coalition (PPC), to reduce harmful single-use plastics in our lives. Experts from PPC will inform attendees about plastic pollution and how it harms all living beings and ecosystems, including our beloved oceans.

Join the walk and: 

●      Experience a stroll, not a race, together! 

●      Hear inspiring words from Diana Nyad & Bonnie Stoll, the real heroes of Netflix’s NYAD

●      Learn about plastic pollution and solutions from Plastic Pollution Coalition

●      Learn about the Great Los Angeles Walk with creator Michael Schneider

●      Sing, walk and focus on what we can collectively do for our blue planet

●      Get your photo taken with Diana and Bonnie in front of the Netflix NYAD poster

The walk will begin at 8 a.m. PT at Beach Park 1, 2600 Barnard Way, Santa Monica, CA 90405. Public parking is available at and surrounding this location or take public transportation.

NOTE: This is a single-use plastic free event. Please bring your own water in a reusable bottle!

Register here: $30 per person

REGISTRATION FEES BENEFIT 3 NON-PROFITS: EVERWALK, PLASTIC POLLUTION COALITION, THE GREAT LOS ANGELES WALK

The Great Los Angeles Walk 2023 Recap: 15 Miles, From Griffith Park to Griffith Park, Conquered!

 

A crowd of several hundred people weren't afraid of the forecasted rain (which turned out to be barely an issue -- a few minutes at most, a few hours into the walk!) and joined us on Saturday morning, Nov. 18, for the 18th annual Great Los Angeles Walk. This year, we started and finished in the same spot — the California bear statue at Griffith Park — for the first time ever. And we explored two major north/south avenues — Fairfax and Western — in addition to sections of Franklin Avenue and Pico Boulevard.

After a few words, I introduced Diana Nyad (who brings her EverWalk group every year) and also brought up Cat and Steve Whalen, the now-married couple who first met a few years ago on the walk! 

From Griffith Park, we passed by the Fern Dell Western stairs and Immaculate Heart, and then headed down Franklin, by classic apartment buildings like the Hollywood Tower and the Montecito. Then we turned south briefly on Highland, before rejoining Franklin at the Hollywood United Methodist Church. From there, we passed by the Magic Castle and the entrance to Runyon Canyon, before stopping to check out the historic Wattles Mansion and Gardens Park.

Then it was south to Hollywood Blvd., which we walked to Fairfax. Heading south on Fairfax, we passed by landmark eatries like Canter's and enjoyed an exclusive discount at Diamond Bakery. (Shappy pretzels and lots of cookies!) We saw Television City and the Grove, and many stopped for lunch at Farmers Market.

Then it was museum time, passing by the LACMA, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and the Petersen Automotive Museum — where walkers could check out some classic cars in the lobby. We headed east on Pico, and some Walkers ate at Rosemary and Thyme (which offered a free soft serve!) and others visited some of the boutique shops along the way.

We then headed back north on Western — and many Walkers took a pit stop at El Cholo, the legendary LA restaurant celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. The management gave Walkers an early happy hour menu, and many margaritas were had. The walk continued up Koreatown, past the Wiltern Theatre and all the way back up to the start point.

Thanks to everyone who made all of the trek, some of it, or even just helped give rides to their friends. Check out The Great Los Angeles Walk's Instagram feed for more pics, and the hashtags #glaw and #greatlawalk for more as well. Also you can find pics in which we were tagged here or here.

But here are just a few highlights from the day:

See you all next year! Don't forget, the Great Los Angeles Walk is always on the Saturday before Thanksgiving!