For Immediate Release
Ocean State Marathon Announces Course Changes and Prize Structure
The 10th Annual Brooks Pharmacy Ocean State Marathon will be run on Sunday,
October 13 over a restructured course entirely within the City of
Providence and will feature a record prize purse of $122,000. The 26.2 mile
event is designed to lead over 2000 runners, including 20 to 25 elite
athletes, on a tour of Rhode Island's capital city that will take in all of
the diverse, historically rich neighborhoods, beautiful Roger Williams Park
and the vibrantly revitalized downtown.
The figure eight, loop course will start at the State Capitol building and
finish at the Rhode Island Convention Center. Each of the communities
runners will pass through offer their own flavor and excitement but the
highlights are certain to be the Federal Hill section's colorful
decorations for the Columbus Day celebrations and Roger Williams Park as
autumn colors begin to emerge.
"The change to a Providence loop course, although necessitated by the
denial of a permit to stage the race on a Sunday in the City of Warwick,
was in the planning stage for 2003, in any case," said Gerry Beagan, race
director. "We are pleased and grateful that the City of Providence stepped
up on short notice to assist and support us in finding a solution that
assures the state continues to have a national class marathon with an
excellent international reputation."
The prize purse includes $50,000 in guaranteed prize money in overall and
age group categories and an additional $72,000 in event record and time
incentive bonuses. For the first time the prize structure will include New
England resident time incentive bonuses in overall and age group divisions.
Last year's prize purse was $112,000.
There will be special awards for the first Rhode Island State Trooper
finisher, the first Rhode Island firefighter and the first Rhode Island
police officer. The first Rhode Island man and woman finishers will again
receive round trip airline tickets to any destination in Florida.
All finishers will receive a unique Rhode Island silhouette medallion
according to finish place. The first 500 finishers receive gold, finishers
500 to 1000 will be awarded silver and finishers from 1001 on receive
bronze. Finishers are also mailed a certificate of finish and a complete
set of results. The marathon course is USATF certified and the event is a
sanctioned Boston Marathon qualifier.
The marathon will again benefit the Pediatric Cardiopulmonary Laboratory at
the Hasbro Children's Hospital, Providence. Over the past five years the
event has raised over $200,000 to make the laboratory a reality and to
purchase equipment.
For the ninth consecutive year the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society has selected
Ocean State as one of a national series of marathons where its Team in
Training members train for and run a marathon to raise money in honor of a
patient diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease or myeloma.
Race weekend will include a Health and Fitness Fair at the Rhode Island
Convention Center, downtown Providence, on Saturday, October 12 from noon
to 6 p.m. The fair will include displays, demonstrations and sales of
products and services particular to running and to health and fitness
generally. Entrants will also be able to pick up their race number,
Champion Chip, t-shirt, program book and goodies bag. Late registration for
the marathon will continue throughout the fair. At 5:30 p.m. in the
convention center there will be an elite runner panel, featuring Bill
Rodgers, four-time winner of both the Boston and New York marathons, where
the elite field of runners will be introduced for questions and comments. A
pasta dinner will be served from 5 to 7 p.m. at the convention center. The
cost will be $12.00 with tickets available at the health and fitness fair
or at the door.
On race day, at the convention center, entrants will have another
opportunity to pick up their race number, Champion Chip, t-shirt and
goodies bag. There will be no race day registration. Marathoners will also
have an opportunity to check a bag for retrieval after the race. The
starting line, at the state house, is a short walk from the convention
center and the finish line is at the convention center. There will be 15
Crystal Spring Water/ Gatorade stations and four medical aid stations on
the course. Porta-lets will be available at the start, at every other water
station and at each medical aid station.
After the finish there will be refreshments, massage and posting of the
results in the convention center. The awards ceremony will be held at 1
p.m. at the Westin Hotel adjacent to the convention center.
Registration brochures are available at all Brooks Pharmacy stores in New
England and New York or by requesting them from Ocean State Marathon, 5
Division Street, East Greenwich, RI 02818 or by telephone, fax or e-mail or
from the web site. The telephone is (401) 885-4499, fax is (401) 885-3188,
e-mail osm26@ids.net and the web site is http://www.osm26.com/
Registration fees are $40.00 until July 5th, $50.00 until September
24th and $60.00 after September 24th.
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