Contact: Dan Finanger
Executive Director
612-925-3500, Ext. 12
Jackie Liu
Media & Public Relations Manager
612-925-3500, Ext. 13
TWIN CITIES MARATHON T-SHIRT DRIVE UNDERWAY
Minneapolis, Minnesota – September 5, 2002 - A 21-day contest kicked off
the 2nd annual Twin Cities Marathon (TCM) Training Teams Network T-shirt
Drive, hosted by the TCM Community Contribution Program, sponsored by
Seagate Technology. At the conclusion of this year’s marathon, scheduled
for Sunday, September 29, the shirts will be donated to a pair of charities
benefiting developing third world countries.
Participants are encouraged to bring their gently worn and laundered
t-shirts to the TCM Community Contributions booth at the TCM HealthFair 11
Fitness Expo at the Touchtone Energy® Place at RiverCentre, 175 West
Kellogg Boulevard, St. Paul during expo hours: Friday, September 27, 12:00
p.m.-8:00 p.m. and Saturday, September 28, 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
Along with the t-shirt drive, the Expo features hands-on health and fitness
exhibits, great bargains on running and fitness gear, and information on
equipment and nutrition. TCM merchandise will be available for sale. TCM
HealthFair 11 Fitness Expo admission is free and open to the public.
The TCM Training Teams Network kickoff contest resulted in the donation of
over 6,700 shirts to date, an increase of more than 300% from 2001. Eleven
teams of athletes training for the marathon participated, including: 3M
Running Club, American Lung Association Running Club (ALARC), Arthritis
Foundation’s Joints in Motion, Leukemia Lymphoma Society’s Team in
Training, LIFETIME FITNESS, Minnesota Distance Running Association (MDRA),
Northwest Club Run, Team Diabetes, TEAM LUNG, Team Salubrious, and the
YMCA.
Team Diabetes collected the most shirts, with 2,185. As a result, Team
Diabetes athletes will have access to various VIP activities at the
marathon’s finish line. They also win a framed 2002 Twin Cities Marathon
poster.
The two t-shirt drive beneficiaries are the San Lucas Mission in Guatemala
and Hand In Hand Together. The San Lucas Mission provides support to the
Mayan people in San Lucas. Guatemala is a beautiful country, but it
includes areas of desperate poverty. Without the mission’s support, better
education, healthcare, and living conditions would not be possible.
T-shirts donated to the mission make a big difference in the lives of
Guatemalans. Hand In Hand Together is a nonprofit organization dedicated
to providing humanitarian aid and encouragement directly to people of
Ukraine, Russia, and Moldova where people live in tremendous levels of
poverty. Hand In Hand Together is organized and operated by a Minnesota
couple. In addition to the t-shirt drive, TCM will donate unused shirts
from its races to Hand In Hand Together.
The 2002 TCM weekend is September 27-29. TCM will host the 2002 USA Men’s,
Women’s and Masters Marathon Championships. The three-day weekend
celebration of fitness includes a 5K fun run/walk, children’s fun runs, a
pasta dinner, a two-day health and fitness expo, and a 10-mile race in
addition to the marathon. Major corporate sponsors for the marathon are
Cub Foods, Calhoun Beach Club and Seagate Technology. The major media
sponsors are KARE 11 and Cities 97. Twin Cities Marathon, Inc. is a
non-profit organization that directs the TCM weekend as a community service
for the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. Visit us at
www.twincitiesmarathon.org/saturday_events.html.
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