by Larry Eder
The Lewis & Clark Marathon & Half Marathon gave runners in the Metro St. Louis area a major fall event to enjoy. L&C complemented the Go! St. Louis Marathon & Fitness weekend. The Lewis & Clark event was managed by Fleet Feet St. Louis, one of the FF franchise top stores, which has a tremendous reputation in the St. Louis area.
Competitor Group has now added the fall marathon and half marathon to their RNR series for 2011. No official name as of yet. And the event is licensed, not purchased out right. Perhaps this is a way to test a property and see if it fits into the RNR niche.
The Lewis & Clark Marathon & Half marathon will have its last running this year, on October 3. In 2011, the rebranded race becomes a RNR marathon & half marathon. The Lewis & Clark name will live on as a proposed 10 miler, which will be added to the spring local race calendar, as a build up to the Go! St. Louis Marathon & Fitness weekend!
PRESS RELEASE
St. Louis is ready to Rock ‘n’ Roll
Lewis & Clark Marathon and Half Marathon to join Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series in 2011
St. Louis is ready to Rock ‘n’ Roll
Lewis & Clark Marathon and Half Marathon to join Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series in 2011
ST. LOUIS – September 20, 2010 – The Competitor Group (CGI) and FLEET FEET St. Louis today announced a multi-year licensing agreement for the Lewis & Clark Marathon and Half Marathon. The event, which will celebrate its ninth and final running on Sunday, October 3, will be rebranded as part of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series in 2011. “We are very excited that the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon is coming to St. Louis,” said Mayor Francis Slay, who joined race officials at a press conference at City Hall to announce the new event. “St. Louis has always been a great city for sporting events and our community consistently shows its support to professional and amateur athletes alike. We look forward to welcoming thousands of runners from around the world next fall.” The Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series, which began in San Diego in 1998, is held in major markets across the nation including Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Seattle. Popular for its live entertainment and fanfare at every mile, the series of marathons and half-marathons will attract over 400,000 participants nationwide in 2011. The Rock ‘n’ Roll St. Louis Marathon & ½ Marathon is set for Sunday, October 23, 2011. “The Midwest region has long been an important part of our strategy for expanding the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series,” said Scott Dickey, President of CGI. “St. Louis has a national reputation as a great sports town and combined with its passionate running community, this event is destined to be a home run.” “This partnership will allow our event to showcase many of our city’s famous attractions, feature local musicians and will provide for continual growth of our local running community,” said David Spetnagel, Owner FLEET FEET Sports. “We are looking forward to hosting tens of thousands of runners and walkers from across the country so that everyone can see and experience what we already know – that St. Louis is the greatest running city in the world.” The 2011 event will utilize a new downtown race course that is currently in development. Registration for Rock ‘n’ Roll St. Louis is open at Competitor.com with the first 500 participants registering for either the marathon or half-marathon receiving a special entry fee. “St. Louis is an outstanding destination for a world-class marathon,” said Kathleen Ratcliffe, President of the St. Louis CVC. “With over half of our runners traveling from outside the market, the Rock ‘n’ Roll format will help St. Louis increase its visibility on a national scale and attract participants from across the U.S.” For more information about Rock ‘n’ Roll St. Louis, or to register, visit Competitor.com. About The Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series Organized by The Competitor Group, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series is famous for lining race routes with live bands and cheerleaders, massive participant numbers and rocking post race concerts. The original Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon in 1998 is still recognized as the largest inaugural marathon in history with 19,979 entrants. Over the 13-year history of the series, more than 75,000 charity runners have raised more than $233 million for a variety of worthy causes and nonprofit organizations. Today, the series of marathons and half-marathons has spread to seventeen cities nationwide. For more information or to register for an event, please visit www.Competitor.com. About The Competitor Group Competitor Group, Inc. (CGI), headquartered in San Diego, CA, is the leading endurance media and event entertainment company dedicated to promoting the sports of running, cycling and triathlon. CGI owns and operates more than 45 national events delivering more than 350,000 professional and amateur participants in 2010. CGI publishes four magazine titles with a combined monthly circulation of over 800,000 and holds a captive online endurance community at competitor.com delivering over 1.5 million monthly unique visitors and over 25 million page views. Further information about Competitor and its media properties can be found at www.cgimediakit.com. About FLEET FEET Sports St. Louis FLEET FEET Sports ( www.ffstl.com ) opened in St. Louis in 1993. Retail stores in Chesterfield, Fenton and St. Charles specialize in providing the runners and walkers of the St. Louis area with shoes, apparel, and accessories that meet their specific needs. Their training division coaches over a thousand runners and walkers each year. Their event management division is involved annually in over seventy-five running and walking events. They have been named one of the best 50 running stores in the nation by Competitor Magazine and were awarded the Pinnacle Award at FLEET FEET Sports’ 2010 national franchise conference. |
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Facts Regarding the Transition from the Lewis & Clark Marathon to Rock ‘n’ Roll St. Louis
- The Lewis & Clark Marathon was not purchased by Competitor
Group, the company behind the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon series. FLEET
FEET Sports has established a partnership with the nation’spremier
marathon production company that will raise St. Louis’ fall marathon to
a national-class event. Rock ‘n’ Roll St. Louis will be largely
locally-produced. FLEET FEET Sports will assist with course design and
management, coordinate volunteers, provide timing services, and perform
numerous other tasks critical to the event’s success. All St. Louisans
will benefit from this partnership. Local athletes have a Rock ‘n’
Roll event in their town, St. Louis businesses will benefit
tremendously from the influx of out of town participants, and St. Louis
will be highlighted positively in a national marketing campaign.
- The
Lewis & Clark Marathon and Half Marathon came into existence when
what is currently the GO! St. Louis Marathon and Half Marathon moved
from its traditional fall date to the spring. In order to ensure that
St. Louis area marathoners had a local fall race option, FLEET FEET
Sports created the Lewis & Clark Marathon and Half Marathon. Both
events have undergone tremendous growth over the past nine years,
clearly indicating that the St. Louis running community can fully
support both a spring and a fall marathon.
- The first few
years of the Lewis & Clark event were staged from the Family Arena
in St. Charles. After the event outgrew the Family Arena parking lot,
the start was moved to the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Maryland
Heights (with the finish in Historic St. Charles). The 2010 event will
fill the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater lot to capacity. Since the goal
of the Lewis & Clark event is to provide an opportunity for as many
participants as possible to complete a marathon or half marathon, a
larger venue will be required for 2011. Downtown St. Louis is the only
setting that has enough parking for anticipated future field sizes.
- The
Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon and Half Marathon courses will be designed to
provide a different racing experience than the GO! St. Louis Marathon
and Half Marathon courses. Preliminary work has been done on a Half
Marathon course that incorporates Downtown St. Louis and the Central
West End. Marathoners will also visit many of the varied neighborhoods
and parks south of Downtown St. Louis.
- The Cystic
Fibrosis Foundation has been the primary charity partner of the Lewis
& Clark event for many years. FLEET FEET Sports’ partnership
agreement with Competitor Group guarantees that the Cystic Fibrosis
Foundation will continue to receive a large annual donation from Rock
‘n’ Roll St. Louis. In addition, proceeds from Rock ‘n’ Roll St. Louis
will be donated to other charity partners of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon
series.
- FLEET FEET Sports intends to continue the Lewis
& Clark event in the form of a premier 10 mile race that will
finish in Historic St. Charles. The Lewis & Clark 10 Mile will be
held in the spring on an appropriate date to help athletes prepare for
the GO! St. Louis Marathon and Half Marathon.
