(March 14, 2015.) -- Roughly twenty-nine years ago this weekend, an L.A. radio news reporter (recently arrived in the market) was adapting a makeshift backback to carry what was then a cutting edge device: a bulky early model cellular phone. It didn't fit in one's palm and approached a foot long when including its sprouted external antenna.

The reporter glued foam padding onto the backpack so it wouldn't cut too deeply into her shoulders when laden with the phone and heavy battery packs while running 26.2 miles in the second annual L.A. Marathon.

Sharon Katchen took up running after heart disease took her father's life. She was hired by KFWB (then "All News 98"), whose management learned she was an enterprising and award winning reporter in her native Denver, to head and invigorate the station's Orange County bureau.

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On her first on-air day, a station editor advised Sharon to re-write the biggest stories out of OC Register and L.A. Times. She balked, noting that they might be inaccurate...and figured she could get better stories than they had. Station management shrugged, said OK, and on many mornings, she led the print outlets (and other radio outlets) and not vice versa.

So, she reasoned, why not run the L.A. Marathon while reporting live using one of those new-fangled cellular phones the station had? (They were pricey and too costly for many consumers.) Station management shrugged but said basically "OK, but you're on your own...and don't drop the phone."

When KFWB announced Sharon would run the Marathon while reporting live, competitor KNX hurriedly tasked one of its reporters (an experienced runner) to try the same thing. Unfortunately for the KNX newsman, the station's network-era engineers didn't think to use digital cell technology; they relied on an old fashioned analog remote system. It blew up along the course, leaving Sharon in the clear.

The station's format allowed Sharon "live shots" roughly every twenty minutes. She hit the last one as she reached the Coliseum and crossed the finish line in an emotional finish while on-air live. So there.

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Sharon won a Golden Mike for that, adding to others she'd win individually or share-in during twenty years with the station. Eventually new ownership hired new management who thought it would be smart to save money by eliminating multiple reporters...and Sharon was among the mass casualties. Those managers eventually vanished too, and others have since piloted the once-leading outlet to a spot among the lowest rated in the market.

Today, Sharon works at three jobs, including a Los Angeles wire service that sends her copy to multiple market outlets. She also handles fill-in work for a national radio network.

A marathon news run...and still going.

Disclosure: Sharon is the spouse of LBREPORT.com's publisher, who wrote the above text.