{"id":208071,"date":"2026-03-06T23:16:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T23:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/208071\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T23:16:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T23:16:07","slug":"family-and-friends-to-honor-late-teen-braun-levi-at-la-marathon-nbc-los-angeles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/208071\/","title":{"rendered":"Family and friends to honor late teen Braun Levi at LA Marathon \u2013 NBC Los Angeles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Family and friends of a Loyola High School tennis star killed in a suspected DUI crash last spring will run the 2026 Los Angeles Marathon<\/a> with one mission in mind: \u201cRun Like Braun.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

As in, Braun Levi<\/a>, 18, a Manhattan Beach student known for his effervescence, determination, and heart.<\/p>\n

Last year, on a whim, Braun entered the Los Angeles marathon with zero training.<\/p>\n

But, if you knew Braun, you knew he lived life at full speed. From a young age, Braun\u2019s family said he pushed himself to his absolute limits.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever he put his mind to, he did it,\u201d Braun\u2019s mom, Jennifer Levi, told NBC Los Angeles. \u201cNo matter how hard the challenge was. Even better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Braun crossed the finish line at the 2025 Los Angeles Marathon, earning that bib and medal his mom holds dear.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was incredulous,\u201d Jennifer said, with a smile. \u201cWe did not believe he was going to finish.”\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Jennifer, a runner herself, grew to expect the unexpected from her son.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe liked doing things that people said were impossible to do,\u201d she said. \u201cBraun liked living life larger than you could ever imagine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Braun was equally proud of himself for finishing the marathon. He was also, of course, in a lot of pain.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe could not walk for about two weeks,\u201d Jennifer recalled.<\/p>\n

Despite giant blisters on his feet, Braun could not wait to run again.<\/p>\n

But Braun\u2019s family won\u2019t get a chance to watch him cross the finish line at this year\u2019s marathon.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tA community celebration of life was held Saturday for Braun Levi, a student at Loyola High School who was fatally struck by an alleged DUI driver in Manhattan Beach. Tracey Leong reports for the NBC4 News at 6 p.m. on May 10, 2025.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

On May 4 \u2014 just two months after he ran the marathon \u2014 Braun was walking on Sepulveda Boulevard in Manhattan Beach when he was hit by a DUI suspect<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Braun died at hospital.<\/p>\n

Braun was just weeks away from graduating high school, with a bright future on the horizon. He was a standout tennis player at Loyola High School, nationally ranked in his sport and set to continue playing at the University of Virginia.<\/p>\n

The Levi family had recently moved to Manhattan Beach after their Pacific Palisades home was destroyed in the devastating January 2025 Palisades Fire.<\/p>\n

After Braun’s death, his life sparked a foundation and movement dubbed \u201cLive Like Braun.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

The foundation celebrates Braun\u2019s spirit and aims to keep his legacy alive through scholarships for kids, improvements to public tennis centers, and raising awareness about the risks of impaired driving. Celebrities like Adam Sandler and Jack Johnson are supporters, wearing \u201cLive Like Braun\u201d hats.<\/p>\n

That movement has now inspired \u201cRun Like Braun,\u201d a group of 66 friends and community members who will run in Braun\u2019s honor in Sunday\u2019s 2026 LA Marathon.<\/p>\n

Their heartbreak has turned into purpose.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s keeping Braun alive, and it\u2019s connecting, and it\u2019s bonding, and it\u2019s being together in a positive environment,\u201d Jennifer said. \u201cThis is all coming from love.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of Braun\u2019s friends who is running with the group told NBC Los Angeles that Braun had an ability to rally people and \u201ca mindset to do anything.\u201d Friend Charlie McMillan ran last year\u2019s LA Marathon with Braun by his side.<\/p>\n

McMillan will be running the marathon again this Sunday \u2014 not with Braun, but for Braun.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s what he lived for \u2014 he lived for bringing people together \u2014 for events like this,\u201d McMillan told NBCLA.<\/p>\n

Family friend Scott Denham will also be running the LA Marathon to remember Braun\u2019s legacy. Denham watched Braun grow up, and said his energy was truly unforgettable.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnything he got involved in, he would just make it so exciting, and so much more fun,\u201d Denham told NBCLA.<\/p>\n

The \u201cRun Like Braun\u201d group will wear shirts at the marathon that read: “Run Like Braun. End Impaired Driving.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, when spectators see the \u201cRun Like Braun\u201d runners, gear, and posters at Sunday\u2019s marathon, Jennifer hopes they\u2019re inspired to check out the ongoing work of the Live Like Braun Foundation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

She also hopes spectators feel inspired to, well, live like Braun.<\/p>\n

\u201cInspire people to live their best life, to lead with kindness, love, inclusivity,\u201d Jennifer added.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith every breath we take, he\u2019s in our hearts,\u201d Denham said. \u201cAnd, trust me, every step I take of the 26.2 miles, he\u2019ll be with me, side by side.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jennifer will be at the starting and finish lines, cheering on those who will carry her son across that finish line \u2014 for the second time. Her heart will be full.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt touches me in ways that are hard to put into words,\u201d she told NBCLA.<\/p>\n

Braun told his mom that his favorite thing about running in last year\u2019s marathon was seeing the different cultures in each neighborhood. He said it made him feel proud to be from LA and he couldn\u2019t wait to bring more people with him to the marathon next year.<\/p>\n

Now, he\u2019s doing just that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Family and friends of a Loyola High School tennis star killed in a suspected DUI crash last spring…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":208072,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[48,52,51,47,50,49,20741,534,8711,127],"class_list":{"0":"post-208071","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-la","9":"tag-la-headlines","10":"tag-la-news","11":"tag-los-angeles","12":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","13":"tag-los-angeles-news","14":"tag-manhattan-beach","15":"tag-pacific-palisades","16":"tag-running","17":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208071\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}