by Larry EderMt.SAC is one of my favorite events. I love the relay meets! PUMA took over the sponsorship of this event, and Doug Todd and his team at Mt.SAC make this a pivotal meet at the start of outdoor elite season. The distance carnival, the prep, junior college and elite sections. Most people do not know that Mt.SAC has an amazing junior high meet as well!
PUMA is sponsoring a very cool event, the PUMA mile. It is where a male runner who is over 18 and has run under 4:05 for the mile ( in competition) and a women who has run 4:48 or under (in competition), my enter by emailing pumamile@puma.com on or before April 9. The winner gets $10,000 contract with PUMA and up to $3,000 in product! Last year’s winner, Tim Bayley, from Great Britain, represented GB at the recent World Indoor Champs in Doha, Qatar. So, dream the dream milers! And if you are not there yet, remember to watch the race on Flotrack, April 16 at 7:45 PST!
PUMA® ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR 2010 PUMA MILE
Sportlifestyle brand offers amateur runners a chance to
compete for contract
WESTFORD, MA (April 2, 2010) – Run a mile, score a contract. If only it was that easy, right? But, for the second year in a row, sportlifestyle brand PUMA® is offering just that opportunity with the 2010 PUMA Mile, held on Friday, April 16th at the Mt. SAC relays in Walnut, California. PUMA, whose portfolio of running athletes includes three-time Olympic gold medallist and “fastest man in the world†Usain Bolt, is offering up a yearlong running contract worth $10,000 to the race’s winner. (Bragging rights to inking a deal with Bolt’s sponsor included.)
“The PUMA Mile is a unique way for us to connect with the running category,†explains PUMA North America’s Senior Director of Marketing, Tara McRae. “But in a very PUMA manner. When you look at our brand, we’ve always been supporters of up-and-coming talent, no matter what the category. And, accordingly, we really jumped at the opportunity to give a break to a dynamic, unrealized young runner.â€
The race will be broadcast live on Flotrack at 7:45 pm PST on the 16th — and, if it’s anything like last year’s competition, the anticipation of the runners and the excitement of the crowd will make for quite the spectacle. Both male and female runners 18 or older who have clocked under a 4:05 mile in competition (4:48 mile for women) are eligible to enter by emailing pumamile@puma.com by Friday, April 9th. (Entrants must not be sponsored by any brand, and must not be affiliated with any school team or sponsored club.) PUMA will then select the individuals who’ll compete in the final race at Mt. SAC. Female runners will be given a 29.43 second head start in accordance with accepted competitive running standards.
In addition to the $10,000 contract, the PUMA Mile winner will also receive PUMA product worth up to $3,000, as well as the chance to be featured in PUMA photo shoots and other promotional campaigns. The PUMA Mile winner will also be invited to make other public appearances on behalf of the brand throughout the year.
“Mt. SAC prides itself on being an ‘athlete friendly’ meet, and the fact that this has always been a place for an emerging or developing athlete to get their first introduction to national and international competition,†said Doug Todd, Mt. SAC Relays Director. “The PUMA Mile fits right in with what the Mt. SAC Relays have been attempting to do for all these years. We are happy to be associated with it!â€
The 2009 PUMA Mile contract was awarded to Tim Bayley, who went on to represent Great Britain in the 1500m at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Doha, Qatar. As a PUMA athlete, Bayley participated in autograph signings and made in-store appearances for the brand; he also appeared in PUMA’s global marketing campaign for Spring 2010 in the running category.
PUMA Running’s international athlete roster includes Usain Bolt and the Jamaican National Team, as well as, from a US perspective, steeplechaser Delilah DiCrescenzo and distance runner Sean Quigley. PUMA’s brand portfolio also includes the Complete Running line of technical road and trail footwear, spikes, apparel, and accessories for the performance-minded runner. New releases for Spring 2010 include the Complete
Ventis, optimized for neutral runners, and the Complete Spectana in the stability footwear category. For more information, visit www.pumarunning.com. For more information about the Mt. Sac Relays visit www.mtsacrelays.com.
