LOS ANGELES (AP) — They have run through heartache and grief, battling illnesses and injuries as their bodies have aged. Some are now using wheelchairs, including the oldest who is 87.

Despite it all, the Los Angeles Marathon's Legacy Runners have stuck to their mission: finish the race.

Hank Kunneman’s booming voice filled the room, topping 100 decibels and repeatedly triggering an Apple Watch loud noise warning. He scrunched his eyes shut and drove his pointer finger toward the sky, shaking with tension.

“And so as our hands are lifted, Lord. It is a sign of the victory you have brought at this time to the Earth, to us in the United States of America.”

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The day after her house burned down, Lara Ganz sent a group message to the youth theater troupe she runs: They would not let the Los Angeles firestorm stop their upcoming show.

“So many of our castmates have lost everything,” wrote Ganz, the director of youth theater at a beloved playhouse in the Pacific Palisades. “We will continue with rehearsals. I am confident we will find a stage.”