LOS ANGELES, Calif.— The Los Angeles Marathon will be held on Memorial Day beginning in 2009, announced Los Angeles Marathon President Russ Pillar. He also announced the return of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. as the Marathon’s presenting sponsor and Acura as the LA Bike Tour’s title sponsor.
As a condition of their acquisition of the marathon and related assets just six weeks ago, the new race organizers agreed with the City of Los Angeles to move the marathon to President’s Day. But after extensive conversations with runners, travel and tourism experts, City officials, and others, it became clear that Memorial Day provided far more opportunity and far fewer obstacles to creating a better experience for all constituencies.
“Our new position on the calendar allows us to honor the City’s requirement that we hold the race on a holiday Monday while, at the same time, providing us with a ‘gateway to summer’ event that we can use to highlight the best that Los Angeles has to offer,” said Russ Pillar.
Presenting sponsor American Honda Motor Co., Inc. has extended its relationship with the Los Angeles Marathon and the Acura LA Bike Tour for 2009. “Honda and the new management of the Los Angeles Marathon share the same optimistic vision for the future of this great event. Honda is excited to once again take part in all of the community activity that is part of both the Marathon and the Acura LA Bike Tour,” said Stephan Morikawa, Assistant Vice President for Corporate Community Relations, American Honda Motor Co., Inc.
Runners who already have registered for next year’s race will be signed-up for the May 25, 2009 race date automatically; those who already have paid the entry fee will be reimbursed in full if they are unable to participate.
In addition to announcing the race’s date and sponsor, LA Marathon announced the appointment of Nick Curl as Race Director. A longtime veteran of event management in Southern California, Curl had been affiliated with the Marathon for more than a dozen years, including more than a half-dozen as Vice President of Operations. “I’m excited to be back,” said Curl. “We’ve assembled a great team and we’re planning to do great things.”
About the Los Angeles Marathon
With more than 20,000 participants, 12,000 volunteers, and 1 million spectators along the course route, the Los Angeles Marathon is one of the largest organized road races in the country. To sign-up to run the Marathon, or for more information, visit LAMarathon.com.
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