Posted: February 28, 2005

Athletics: ING & New York City Marathon Renew Sponsorship Tie

From David Monti

(c) 2004 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

NEW YORK (28-Feb) -- In a joint announcement, the New York Road Runners and ING said today that ING's sponsorship of the ING New York City Marathon had been extended through 2007. The Road Runners are the founders and organizers of the annual marathon held on the first Sunday in November, the world's largest.

"We created a new beginning when ING partnered with New York Road Runners," said Toby Hoden, chief marketing officer for ING US Financial Services in a written statement. "Today we are delighted to extend our partnership to continue building on our collaborative success of the last two years. The energy of the ING New York City Marathon is just incredible; it really brings to life ING’s commitment to the sport of running."

ING is the only title sponsor that the New York City Marathon has ever had; the Dutch financial services company first partnered with the Road Runners in 2003. ING has since gone on to sponsor other marathons around the world, including Amsterdam, Brussels and Ottawa.

"The past few years have featured some of the marathon’s finest moments, culminating with last year's dream race and the memorable victories by Paula Radcliffe and Hendrik Ramaala," said Mary Wittenberg, the executive vice president and chief operating officer of Road Runners. "We welcome ING back to join us for three more exciting years as we continue our collaboration to make the marathon the world’s most celebrated road race."

The 2005 ING New York City Marathon will be held on Sunday, 06-Nov.