Posted: February 25, 2005

Athletics: Phil Vassar to Headline 2005 Country Music Marathon®

Bering Strait to be very special guests

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - (Feb. 23, 2005) - Arista recording artist Phil Vassar will entertain runners at the sixth annual Country Music Marathon® & ˝ Marathon concert with Universal South Recording Group, Bering Strait, as very special guests.

The concert, which takes place at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville at 7:00pm, Sat., April 30, 2005, culminates a weekend of running and music featuring over 16,000 marathoners and half-marathoners with more than 50 live bands staged along each mile of the 26.2 and 13.1-mile courses.

Tickets for the concert will be sold to the public for $20 and will go on sale March 2, 2005. Tickets can be purchased through TicketMaster charge-by-phone at (615) 255-9600 or at www.ticketmaster.com.

The Country Music Marathon & ˝ Marathon starts at West End Avenue near Centennial Park, winds its way in and out of the downtown area and finishes at The Coliseum. The two-day Health & Fitness Expo, expected to attract 35,000 attendees, will be held at the Nashville Convention Center.

The Country Music Marathon & ˝ Marathon benefits The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society through their Team In Training program. The fundraising goal for the 2005 event is $2.5 million.

Entries to the Country Music Marathon & ˝ Marathon are available at CMMarathon.com, by calling (615) 742-1660 or contacting the Country Music Marathon office at 240 Great Circle Rd, Ste 340, Nashville, TN 37228.

About Phil Vassar
Singer-songwriter Phil Vassar has been enjoying the success of his third Arista Nashville album, "Shaken Not Stirred." The acclaimed album boasts the single "In a Real Love," which spent two weeks atop the country music charts. Phil's latest single, "I'll Take That as a Yes (The Hot Tub Song)", is climbing the charts. He recently performed the hit on the Jimmy Kimmel Live show and the steamy music video for the song is in rotation on CMT and GAC. Vassar's tour schedule keeps him out on the road presenting his energetic performances that have earned fan support and widespread critical acclaim.

Taking a different approach in the studio for this album, Phil used his own band on much of the record rather than the familiar Nashville studio players. The aim was to tap his strength as a vocalist and musician by recreating the sound of his performances that have helped this native Virginian develop a reputation as a potent live performer. In a three out of four star album review, People Magazine says of Phil's talent, "[he] decorates his vocals with his keyboard work in a way that evokes the best singer-pianists, from Nat 'King' Cole and Hoagy Carmichael to Ronnie Milsap and Diana Krall." Music Row Magazine raves, Vassar delivers one of the best crafted country albums of the year.

Vassar began his career performing his growing repertoire of original songs at his Nashville club-restaurant. Before embarking on his solo career, which has produced more than half a dozen Top 10 hits (including his break out #1 single "Just Another Day In Paradise"), Vassar penned hits for a number of top artists including Tim McGraw ("My Next Thirty Years"), Alan Jackson ("Right on the Money"), and Jo Dee Messina ("Bye, Bye"). Englebert Humperdinck also recorded Once in a While, a composition that Vassar penned in the beginning of his career with a fellow bartender. He has earned numerous songwriting awards as well as new artist distinctions from ACM, CMA, R&R and Gavin.

About Bering Strait
After years of classical training and later playing together in a country bluegrass-fusion band in their native Russia, Bering Strait moved to Nashville in the late '90s to a pursue a recording career in America.

Upon arriving in the U.S., the band found themselves the subjects of the Emmy Award winning documentary, The Ballad of Bering Strait, produced and directed by Nina Gilden Seavey. The film chronicled the band's many struggles as they try to make their dream happen. The documentary was released theatrically and is now available on DVD.

In January of 2003, their hard earned efforts were rewarded with their self-titled album, released on Universal South Records-the joint venture between Universal Records and highly respected music executives Tony Brown and Tim DuBois. They were also nominated for a Grammy Award for their instrumental original composition, "Bearing Straight".

The group's unique story has been the focus of many high profile outlets-they have been profiled in The New York Times, The Washington Post and on CBS 60 Minutes, just to name a few. Their second album, titled Pages, will be released in June 2005.

About Country Music Marathon & ˝ Marathon
The Country Music Marathon & ˝ Marathon is produced by Elite Racing, Inc. The annual event attracts over 16,000 runners and 100,000 spectators and benefits The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, which has raised over $9.5 million in its five-year history with the Nashville-based event. In addition, the race receives extensive national, regional and local media coverage and will be taped to broadcast nationally on FSN and regionally on Comcast Sports Southeast.

Elite Racing, Inc., a sports marketing and management company based in San Diego, Calif., is the leader in producing world-class running events. In addition to the Country Music Marathon & ˝ Marathon, Elite Racing, a Running USA Founding Member, produces eight events each year, including the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon, P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Arizona, the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon and the upcoming Carlsbad 5000, the world's fastest 5K

Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Services Director
385 Oak View Lane
Santa Barbara, CA 93111

(805) 696-6232, fax (805) 967-5958
Ryan@RunningUSA.org
www.runningusa.org.