FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Jan. 31, 2010

MIAMI - (January 22, 2010) - As many as 30 percent of the 18,000 runners who will participate in the ING Miami Marathon and Half-Marathon®, Sunday, January 31, 2010 on the streets of Miami and Miami Beach will be running on behalf of their favorite charity. This commitment to goodwill is a significant element of the impact of the race as thousands of dollars are raised to enhance various causes throughout the South Florida community and the world.

Some of the charitable efforts will be in the forefront of the public eye such as Team World Vision, which now has made humanitarian aid to earthquake ravaged Haiti the focal point of its worldwide effort. The ING Miami Marathon and Half-Marathon® has placed links on its website - INGmiamimarathon.com - to try to drive attention toward the Haiti relief effort and runners are being encouraged to participate under the Team World Vision umbrella.

Other charitable initiatives include Team in Training benefiting the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Team Lifeline benefiting Children with Cancer, Team 65 Roses benefiting Cystic Fibrosis, National MS Society South Florida chapter, Health Harbor Wellness Center, American Cancer Society DetermiNation Program, Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, National Parkinson Foundation, Diabetes Research Institute, Gawad Kalinga, Food for Life Network, Run for Autism, His House Children's Home, the Caring for Carcinoid Foundation and the Kids Bowl Free program.

"One of the important facets of the ING Miami Marathon is the participation of charities," said Dave Scott, General Manager for US Road Sports & Entertainment of Florida and Race Director for the ING Miami Marathon. "Many runners enhance their marathon training by running for a charitable organization and a specific cause and end up making their running experience even more meaningful.

"Runners often begin their preparation for the marathon with training groups of the various charities. Encouraged by the camaraderie of fellow runners and running group team leaders, they are able to achieve their personal best times as well as achieve fundraising dollars. The efforts of these charitable groups within the running community are felt around the world. We encourage all of our runners to assist in whatever way they can."

Charities raised more than $3 million at the 2009 ING Miami Marathon. Charity runners in the ING Miami Marathon and Half-Marathon® make a donation to their charity of choice in lieu of paying their registration fee directly to the race. Then the charity registers its team with the race at a discounted rate, keeping the additional money it raises for its cause.

For example, teams of runners from Mission 500, Miami Vineyard Church, Miami Firefighters, Miami-Dade College and other South Florida organizations and individuals have trained for the ING Miami Marathon & Half Marathon with Team World Vision to raise funds for Haiti. They mobilized under Operation Hope for Haiti, a network of South Florida community leaders in partnership with World Vision, who have been working to keep Haiti on the radar screen and provide sustained support since the hurricanes of 2008.

Since the devastating 7.0 earthquake in Haiti, these committed runners have become even more motivated and more runners are joining Team World Vision to raise awareness and funds to alleviate the intense suffering and grief of the devastated Haitian population.

Team World Vision will now also participate in the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida Tropical 5K benefiting the Community Partnership for the Homeless on January 30th and is calling on all runners and walkers in South Florida to join them and Run / Walk for Haiti.

Runners interested in joining Team World Vision and running or walking for Haiti relief efforts should visit: www.teamworldvision.org/miami

"As Haiti's closest American neighbor, we have a moral obligation to ensure Haiti is kept on the radar screen long after the focus of the world drifts past the harrowing headlines and images," said Julie Grimes, Chairperson of Operation Hope for Haiti. "The smallest steps lie in the heart of all movements. In solidarity, let us use our steps to help our neighbors move forward to a better life and ensure the world does not forget."

World Vision began distributing emergency relief supplies immediately after the quake rocked Haiti, since it had supplies pre-positioned for other disasters. In its race to respond and overcome the overwhelming challenges of getting relief assistance to those in need, World Vision is using all the resources at its disposal. With 800 Haitian staff already on the ground and international logistics and disaster response experts deployed, World Vision is launching humanitarian programs not only in the capital city, but also in rural areas and along the border.

"We have recognized the outstanding efforts of Team World Vision and their participation in various races managed by US Road Sports & Entertainment," said Dave Scott, General Manager of US Road Sports & Entertainment of Florida and Race Director of the ING Miami Marathon. "The impact they have both here in the United States and internationally has been significant and with the ING Miami Marathon just two weeks away, what better opportunity is presented to us than partnering with them for this event.

"With such a large Haitian population in our South Florida community, we want to do our part in assisting with the recovery efforts for the people of Haiti."

Another example of charity participation is the Kids Bowl Free program, which provides free bowling for families nationwide which have children suffering from a chronic medical conditions. Runners participating under that banner are going to be running the ING Miami Half Marathon on January 31, 2010 with a goal of raising $100,000. Kids Bowl Free will be asking families that participated in the Kids Bowl Free program to train along with them and also have their children participate in raising funds for this great cause.

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Special thanks to 
Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Services Director.
385 Oak View Lane
Santa Barbara, CA 93111
(805) 696-6232, fax (805) 967-5958
Ryan@RunningUSA.org
http://www.runningusa.org