Press Release - Little Rock Marathon - 2/16/06

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                               Contact: Geneva Hampton
                                        501-371-4639 or 501-351-7730 cell
                                          
                                        Gina Marchese Pharis
                                        501-918-5321 or 501-351-7700 (cell)
                                        

         50 States Marathon Club to Meet in Little Rock March 4 

(Little Rock, February 16, 2006) - The 50 States Marathon Club is slated to 
host a reunion meeting March 4 in Little Rock - the day before the Little 
Rock Marathon. 

The club is composed of an active group of dedicated marathoners who share 
a common goal of finishing a marathon in all 50 states. To join, a 
prospective member must have completed a marathon in at least 10 states. 

"It's a wonderful club that develops a lot of friendship, camaraderie, and 
good health,"  said Tom Adair, president of the 50 States Marathon Club, 
whose headquarters are based in Houston, TX. 
 
The club meets each quarter in a different part of the United States and 
the March meeting will be the first time they have met in Little Rock. The 
meeting place and time have not been confirmed. The club has about 1,000 
members that reside in all 50 States and nine countries. Between 40 to 160 
members usually attend the meetings and 120 members are signed up to come 
to Little Rock. Adair said the meeting is open to the public.  

Adair said Little Rock Marathon coaches Tom and Hobbit Singleton were 
instrumental in bringing the meeting to the city. The Singletons spoke last 
December at the 50 States Club meeting held in Memphis the night before the 
St. Jude Marathon. "We talked about the Little Rock Marathon, basically 
described the course and talked about the course time limit, how it was 
walker and slower runner friendly, and showed off our big, honkin' medal,"  
Hobbit Singleton said. "There were several members of their club who had 
run the Little Rock Marathon and enjoyed the race and the city." 

"The biggest potential benefit for hosting the reunion meeting in the 
city," Singleton said, "is that many of the people involved in the 50 
States Club have not run a marathon in Arkansas and will arrange their 
running schedule to have the Little Rock Marathon be the race that fills in 
Arkansas. Several of the people that I spoke with who had run Little Rock 
said it was their first visit to Arkansas and how favorably impressed they 
were with the race, the state, the city, and the friendly people."


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