Press Releases

Marathon Brings Record Gift To The Memorial

For Immediate Release:
Kari Watkins, Executive Director
405.235.3313 or 405.830.6114

Video and pictures available on the Memorial FTP site.
ftp://ftp.oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org
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MARATHON BRINGS RECORD GIFT TO THE MEMORIAL

(Oklahoma City, OK---July 22, 2010) The Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon announced today that it is giving more than $750,000 in proceeds from the 2010 race to the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum. This is the largest donation in the 10 year history of the race.

“The race continues to grow each year. We have seen Marathon runners develop from relay teams and the half-marathon and we have seen relay teams and half-marathon participants develop from the 5k Memorial Walk and Kids Marathon and we see new faces every year in each race," said Chet Collier, Race Director of the OKC Memorial Marathon.

The gift brings the total amount of Marathon gifts to $2,175,000 over the past ten years. "For every one dollar in cash our sponsors donate, the Marathon generates $4.20 that goes directly to the Memorial," said Thomas Hill, President of the OKC Memorial Marathon volunteer committee. Hill and Collier co-founded the race in 2000, the year the Memorial was dedicated and pulled off the first Marathon in 2001.

"The Memorial Marathon is an event the entire community supports in the celebration of life and is a symbol of the unwavering strength of this great city," said John Richels, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Oklahoma City National Memorial Foundation.

In just 10 short years, the proceeds from the race have grown from $50,000 to the $750,000 received today. Memorial trustees, staff and volunteers and Marathon sponsors and volunteers were overwhelmed by today’s announcement.

"The Memorial and Museum is a private non-profit organization, and each year the gift the Marathon contributes impacts greatly our ability to operate and maintain the beauty and educational aspects of the site and Museum," said Kari Watkins, Executive Director of the Memorial & Museum. "The involvement and dedication of the corporate sponsors, volunteer chairs and the corps of more than 6,000 volunteers is incredible. Their efforts continue to beautifully align the missions of the Memorial and the Marathon."

This year’s marathon hosted 22,000 runners from 49 states and seven foreign countries. Each year, 20 volunteer chairmen plan, coordinate and implement the marathon weekend’s events and oversee a volunteer corps of more than 6,000 stretched across the 26.2-mile course.

Registration for the 2011 Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon to be held on May 1, 2011, opens September 6, 2010.

The Presenting Sponsors are Devon Energy Corporation, Memorial Marathon; Chesapeake Energy Corporation and Farmers Insurance, Memorial Half Marathon; 7-Eleven, Memorial Relay; Teleflora and AARP, Memorial 5K; and The Oklahoman, Memorial Kids Marathon.

Media Sponsors include KFOR Oklahoma’s NewsChannel 4, Southwestern Publishing and
Citadel Broadcasting 3:00:00 Sponsors are Carl's Jr., Cox Communications, FedEx, Great Plains Coca-Cola Bottling Co., Hard Edge, Incredible Pizza Co., Kimray, Inc., MTM Recognition, OKC Thunder, Oklahoma City Convention & Visitors Bureau, OU Physicians, Phase 2 Interactive, and United Rentals; 4:00:00 Sponsors are Oklahoma Environmental Management Authority and The Sheraton Hotel; 5:00:00 Sponsors include Bellini's, Borden Dairy, Dell, Inc., First Church, New Balance, OGE, SandRidge Energy, Sign Innovations, Skirvin Hilton Hotel, Starbucks and Valir Health and our Finisher Level Sponsors are AT&T, Box Talent Agency, Courtyard Marriott Bricktown Hotel, Crest Foods, Dignity Memorial, Fore Wheeler Golf Cars, Mercy Health Center, Oklahoma County, Panera Bread, Renaissance Hotel and The Runner

The Oklahoma City National Memorial Foundation is the guardian and caretaker of the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum, a 3.3 acre site in downtown Oklahoma City that teaches the lessons learned and the hope that rose from the horror of the April 19, 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building that killed 168 people and left hundreds injured. The Memorial and Museum hosts visitors each month from all 50 states and averages visitors from 35 countries each month that come to learn the story of strength, hope and resilience.

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