Posted: April 19, 2005

Athletics: 2005 Road Runner Akron Marathon Increases Prize Purse

$12,000 for Champions and $25,000 for Ohio State Records

AKRON, Ohio - (April 13, 2005) - Officials of the Road Runner Akron Marathon & Team Relays announced on Wednesday that first place prize money for the marathon is being tripled from the amount awarded last year. Under the new prize structure, the male and female winners of the 26.2 mile marathon will take home $12,000. In addition, prize money will be awarded down to 5th place. For the past two years, only the top three runners were awarded prize money.

The increased purse was made possible after marathon officials reluctantly decided not to host the North American Relay Championships in October because of scheduling difficulties with one of the three teams. A significant portion of the prize money awarded in that international event, which included five-person teams from Canada, Mexico and the United States, is now being earmarked for the marathon.

"This increase in prize money makes the Road Runner Akron Marathon one of the premier races in the Midwest, offering the most prize money than any marathon in the state of Ohio," said Jim Barnett, Executive Race Director.

The men and women marathon winners also have the opportunity to collect an additional $25,000 if they set the Ohio marathon record. The current Ohio marathon record for men is 2:10:29, set in Cleveland in 2000 by Pavel Kokin of Russia, while the women's Ohio record of 2:28:15 is held by Lyudmila Puskina, also of Russia. She established the Ohio record in Columbus in 2003.

"By tripling the first place prize money, combined with a $25,000 bonus for breaking the Ohio marathon record, the Road Runner Akron Marathon has now become an attractive race for top tier world-class marathoners," said John Tope, coordinator of elite athletes for the Akron event and other distance races throughout the country. "Akron can certainly expect faster marathon times being posted this year than in the previous two years."

Second place marathon finishers will be awarded $5000; $2000 for third; $1000 fourth and $500 fifth. The new prize structure for the marathon represents an increase of $27,000 over the amount paid to marathon finishers in 2004.

There is no change in the prize structure for the Masters Marathon division or in the Bank One Marathon Team Relays. Masters marathon finishers, those over 40 years of age (men & women), will receive the following: 1st Place ($1000); 2nd Place ($500) and 3rd Place ($250)

The Bank One Team Relays which includes men, women and mixed teams, will receive: 1st Place ($2000); 2nd Place ($1000) and 3rd Place ($500)

The top three Men's, Women's and Mixed teams in the new, two-person relay will receive Recognition Awards, as will the top five age group finishers in the full marathon.

Jim Barnett, Executive Race Director, also announced that the USATF Club Championships will not be held during the 3rd Annual Road Runner Akron Marathon & Team Relays due to limited participation. "We encourage USATF-recognized clubs to still consider coming to Akron and entering the Bank One Marathon Team Relays," he said.

Other new highlights for the 2005 race include:
* An earlier start of 7:30am
* More efficient relay exchange zones, relieving congestion at relay hand-offs.

For more details or to register for the marathon or team relays, visit www.akronmarathon.org or call (330) 375-2786 (2RUN).

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.