New
York Road Runners Offers New Elements for
ING New York City Marathon 2008
Added elements
both at the start and along the course, in addition to various pre-race
promotions, to make this year’s event memorable
New
York, October 27, 2008-Wave starts, expanded split timing for all
runners, more green initiatives, and added on-course entertainment are some of
the featured new elements put in place by New York Road Runners for the 39th
running of the ING New York City Marathon on Sunday November 2. More than
39,000 participants and millions of spectators are expected for the 26.2-mile,
five-borough spectacle.
Celebrating
50 Years: Great Moments in New
York Road Runners History
New York Road Runners
will honor its past with the announcement of the top five Great Moments in New
York Road Runners History. The moments were chosen by fan vote as part of a
yearlong celebration of the 50th anniversary of NYRR. The fans selected their
favorite from a list of 15 NYRR Great Moments
that had been compiled by a panel of journalists and NYRR officials.
A countdown of the top five Great Moments is taking place during ING
New York City Marathon race week, with one Moment announced daily. Each
announcement will feature guest appearances from running legends associated
with the top Moment. New York Road Runners will also feature in each of the
news releases the perspective of journalists who covered the races. All news
releases will be available at http://www.ingnycmarathon.org/media.
Everyone can join in the
50th anniversary celebration at the annual Poland Spring Marathon Eve Fireworks
on Saturday, November 1, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Spectators can enjoy a
spectacular fireworks display choreographed to music, immediately followed by
the number “50Û_åÂVbCrLf in the sky ushered in by the singing of
“Happy Anniversary to New
York Road Runners.Û_åÂVbCrLf
At the
Start: NYRR Institutes Wave Starts; Opera Singer Neal E. Boyd to Sing National
Anthem
In one of the most
significant changes since 1976 when the race was expanded to all five boroughs,
this year’s marathon will feature wave starts on the famed Verrazano-Narrows Bridge
in Staten Island. The new plan calls for three
waves, each utilizing all three existing starting lines. The first wave of the
open field will begin at 9:40 a.m. and two additional waves will follow at
10:00 and 10:20. The professional women will still begin the race before the
rest of the field; this year they will start 30 minutes earlier, at 9:10 a.m.
Runners in each wave are expected to clear the start in no more than six
minutes. Complete information on the wave starts is available at http://www.ingnycmarathon.org/entrantinfo/startservices.php.
Opera singer Neal Boyd is
sure to inspire all of Staten Island-and parts of Brooklyn as
well-with his beautiful, yet powerful voice, when he sings the televised
performance of the “Star Spangled BannerÛ_åÂVbCrLf prior to the start of the
professional men’s race and the first wave of runners at 9:40 a.m. Boyd
is a tenor who received 14 million first-place votes in the finals of this
summer’s “America’s Got TalentÛ_åÂVbCrLf to win the $1 million
prize. Complete information on all the ways to watch the broadcast of the race
is available at http://www.ingnycmarathon.org/about/coverage.php.
Along
the Course: On-Course Enhancements and Entertainment
For the first time ever,
race organizers will track splits of all participants for the race’s
final 10 miles, beginning at mile 16 when runners exit the Queensboro Bridge
onto First Avenue
in Manhattan, until mile 26, within sight of the
famed finish line at Tavern on the Green in Central Park.
Split times
will be captured via the ChampionChipå¨ system and will be logged on
NYRR’s Athlete Tracker application. Complete results will be available at
http://www.ingnycmarathon.org/results.
The spectator experience
has always been the centerpiece of the ING New York City Marathon. Now, the
experience has just gotten better for a stretch in Harlem
when runners are pushing through miles 22 and 23. New York Road Runners and the
Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce have joined forces to expand on “The
Harlem Mile,Û_åÂVbCrLf incorporating entertainment zones and stages at three key
locations along Fifth Avenue.
The stage at 135th Street
will feature live Gospel; the stage at 125th Street will incorporate the sounds
of both the Motown and Stax eras as well as today’s R&B; and 117th Street will
include Latin and Caribbean music.
The highlight of The
Harlem Mile will be the first-ever grand celebration at Mt. Morris Park West
between 124th and 120th streets. The area will have VIP seating for guests and
live performances from a variety of artists.
More information on The
Harlem Mile initiative will be available online at http://www.ingnycmarathon.org.
Additionally, for the complete picture on the entire spectator experience, a
comprehensive viewing guide is available at http://www.ingnycmarathon.org/about/spectator.php.
Going
Green
New York Road Runners is
dedicated to promoting the health and sustainability of the environment by
reducing waste, reusing resources, and recycling materials in its offices and
at its races, and raising environmental awareness among its participants. This
year, NYRR is working hard toward “greeningÛ_åÂVbCrLf the ING New York City
Marathon with the following eco-friendly practices; some have been in place
prior to 2008 and others are new this year:
Expanded
recycling program will include the Barilla Marathon Eve Dinner and the start and
finish locations.
Clothing discarded at the Fort Wadsworth
staging area and start is donated to charity.
Portable
toilet units
provided for the marathon are made from recycled material, and they
utilize recycled paper products and environmentally friendly chemicals.
Biodiesel
generators
provided by GreeNow Inc., will power most of this year’s finish
line.
Pedicabs provided by ING will offer
complimentary rides to spectators from First Avenue to Fifth Avenue at multiple locations.
Runners can help to offset
their participation in the ING New York City Marathon by contributing to Million Trees NYC, a
PLANYC initiative with NYC
Parks and New York
Restoration Project. Log on to http://MillionTreesNYC.org
for more details
Going Green: By the Numbers
At least 95 percent of the 105,000 applications
for the ING New York City Marathon are submitted online.
More than 8,000 participants will arrive in Staten Island via ferries that use an ultra-low
sulfur diesel fuel.
City Harvest
expects to collect 3,500 pounds of
unused food from the start.
In partnership with
the Department of Sanitation of New York and Poland Spring Natural Brand Spring Water,
over 11 tons of cardboard and plastic
were recycled along the course of the ING New York
City Marathon 2007.
This year, more than
90,000 Poland Spring water bottles
from the start alone are expected to be recycled. The new eco-friendly
Poland Spring water bottles are made with 30 percent less plastic than previous bottles.
In 2007, five tons
of waste was removed from the finish line alone. New to this year, almost
all of the trash from the finish line will be sorted. Officials estimate
that 80 percent of that waste
will be recyclable.
Biodiesel
generators at this year’s finish line will reduce carbon monoxide
emissions by 50 percent.
Sponsor
Activation
This year’s race
features numerous promotions and examples of exceptional sponsor partner
activation. Fans can win a 2008 Toyota Prius
by voting in the “Pick and DriveÛ_åÂVbCrLf sweepstakes at http://www.pickandrive.com for the
men’s and women’s professional athletes they think will make the
podium.
Food Emporium is offering
special marathon savings at their 16 Manhattan locations,
in addition to providing special offers on Marathon
sponsor products plus a Marathon Sweepstakes to be drawn on November 7 with
prizes from our sponsors.
In order to help runners
fuel their bodies adequately before the big day, Barilla Pasta, the Italian
Consulate and New York Road Runners have partnered to give people the
opportunity to dine at participating restaurants on Barilla pasta
“marathonÛ_åÂVbCrLf specials to help charity.
Emerald Nuts will be
handing out healthy snacks along the last five miles of the course to provide
fuel for spectators as they cheer runners on in their final push to the finish
line.
New for 2008, NYRR has
partnered with RunningPins.com to create the inaugural line of ING New York
City Marathon trading pins. The pins will be sold at the ING New York City
Marathon Health and Fitness Expo, the Marathon Monday Store, and the online
Marathon Store at http://www.nyrr.org.
More about these special
opportunities is at http://www.ingnycmarathon.org/entrantinfo/opportunities.php.
Behind
the Scenes at NYRR
Building on this
year’s “What Does It Take?Û_åÂVbCrLf advertising campaign theme, NYRR
staff has provided an insider’s “behind the scenesÛ_åÂVbCrLf look at
the organization’s preparations on its own blog, “Marathon
Moments.Û_åÂVbCrLf Staff members have blogged on a variety of topics, including a
post from “Handbook MavenÛ_åÂVbCrLf on the massive effort it takes to put
together the Official Handbook, to the parallels “Web Guy EdÛ_åÂVbCrLf draws
between the ’80s hit movie St.
Elmo’s Fire and NYRR, to daily Better Know a Pro posts from
“Samo.Û_åÂVbCrLf Mary Wittenberg
also frequently shares her thoughts. Read the blog at http://ingnycmarathon.wordpress.com/.
New York Road Runners
New York Road Runners is
celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2008. NYRR is dedicated to promoting the
sport of distance running, enhancing health and fitness for all, and responding
to community needs. Our road races and other fitness programs draw upwards of
300,000 runners annually, and together with our magazine and website support
and promote professional and recreational running. A staff of more than 100,
assisted by thousands of volunteers, stages the ING New York City Marathon, as
well as a road race nearly every weekend plus many track and cross country
events. NYRR’s home base in New York,
and its lifelong identification with Central Park,
have given many of its events iconic status, attracting the world’s top
professional runners. Our youth
programs provide running to 50,000 schoolchildren in New York City and around the country who
would otherwise have few or no fitness opportunities. For more information, visit www.nyrr.org.
The ING New York City Marathon
The premier event of New
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York Road Runners, the ING New York City Marathon is one of the world’s
great road races, drawing more than 105,000 applicants. The race attracts many
world-class professional athletes, not only for the more than $600,000 in prize
money, but also for the chance to excel in the media capital of the world
before two million cheering spectators and more than 300 million worldwide
television viewers. As any one of some 750,000 past participants will attest,
crossing the finish line in Central Park is
one of the great thrills of a lifetime. For more information, visit www.ingnycmarathon.org.
World Marathon
Majors
The ING New York City Marathon is one of five events in the World
Marathon Majors series, which showcases the sport’s top athletes and
awards an unprecedented $1 million champions’ prize. The WMM series also
includes the Boston Marathon, the Flora London Marathon, the real,- Berlin
Marathon, and the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. For more information, visit
www.worldmarathonmajors.com.