Posted: September 20, 2007

Athletics (RWire): New York Road Runners Debuts "Chasing Glory"

Seven-week Olympic Trials video series premieres at NYRR.org NEW YORK - (September 19, 2007) - As part of the New York Road Runners' unprecedented promotional and media build-up to the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Men's Marathon race on Saturday, November 3, "Chasing Glory," a seven-week series of web videos offering exclusive athlete and coach interviews and insight has premiered at the NYRR website (NYRR.org), it was announced by NYRR president and CEO Mary Wittenberg. Leading Olympic Trials contenders Dathan Ritzenhein, Abdi Abdirahman, Alan Culpepper, Meb Keflezighi, Brian Sell and Ryan Hall, along with top coaches Brad Hudson, Keith and Kevin Hanson, and Terrence Mahon will be among those featured in the weekly videos. Other segments will highlight behind-the-scenes footage of the challenging Olympic Trials course in Central Park, facts and figures about the race, and a glimpse of how the USA's runners compare with those of the rest of the world. The five- to seven-minute videos will be launched every Tuesday and Thursday from September 17 to October 26. The videos are produced by videographer Matt Taylor, whose other credits include "Chasing Kimbia" and "Chasing Tradition". The videos will be supplemented by three text-based commentaries each week, written in conjunction with television analyst Toni Reavis. "Our athletes have amazing stories to tell and personalities well worth illuminating," said Wittenberg. "We are so pleased to have our 'duo-generational' twosome of Matt Taylor and Toni Reavis, with their passion, expertise and wit, joining our team to help tell the stories of our stars." The texts will be released on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of each week, and will focus on that week's theme. The texts include a flashback to the 1976 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Men's Marathon in Eugene, Ore. and include feature commentary from running greats Frank Shorter and Bill Rodgers. Web Video Schedule / Date Chasing Glory Introduction, September 17-21 "The Kid": Dathan Ritzenhein, September 24-28 Hansons-Brooks Distance Project, October 1-5 "The Black Cactus": Abdi Abdirahman, October 8-12 The Boulder Mystique, October 15-19 The Coaches, October 22-26 Mammoth Lakes, CA, October 29-November 2 Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Director (805) 696-6232; Fax = (805) 659-0016 Ryan@RunningUSA.org www.RunningUSA.org. Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest