2006-2007 PRRO Championship Circuit season to launch at Boilermaker; new format for $25,000 bonus

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

For immediate release

Contact: Elizabeth Unislawski, PRRO Coordinator

May 24, 2006—The Professional Road Running Organization (PRRO) will launch its 2006-07 Championship Season at the Utica Boilermaker 15K on Sunday, July 9. The year-long series features an exciting new circuit competition called the “PRRO Championship Run Off,” which offers a $25,000 bonus for any athlete who wins any two of the first four races on the circuit and goes on to win the PRRO Championship at the 2007 Peachtree Road Race 10K.*

The races on the PRRO circuit are the Utica Boilermaker 15k in Utica, NY (July 9, 2006), the World’s Best 10K in San Juan, Puerto Rico (Feb., 25, 2007), the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run in Washington, DC (Apr. 1, 2007), the Lilac Bloomsday 12K in Spokane, WA (May 6, 2007) and the series championship, the Peachtree Road Race 10K in Atlanta, GA (July 4, 2007).

Each of the participating races adds to the bonus pool each year, so if no athlete wins the bonus during the 2006-2007 season, the bonus grows to $30,000 for 2007-2008. The bonus is in addition to the over $375,000 in prize money that the races pay out individually, making the circuit the most lucrative series of non-marathon prize money events in the world.

With deep fields of internationally accomplished runners, winning a PRRO circuit event is an impressive accomplishment. Winning two PRRO events plus the Peachtree championship in a single season will be a highlight of any elite athlete’s career. “We hope that by next Peachtree, we will have one if not two athletes who have won two of our sister PRRO events,” says Julia Emmons, PRRO President and Director of the Peachtree Road Race. “It would make for a most exciting finale to the 2006-07 PRRO Championship Season if we have one – or two – athletes battling it out for the bonus pool in the championship race.”

Boilermaker race director, Bob Ingalls is equally enthusiastic. “We are proud to be the inaugural event of each Championship Season,” he says. “The male and female winners of Boilermaker will know they have one down, and two tough ones to go. This adds spice to an already exciting circuit of world class races.”

For more information about the PRRO Championship Circuit and the PRRO Championship Run Off visit www.prro.org or contact: PRRO Coordinator, Elizabeth Unislawski , 404-231-9064 #11, unislaw@atlantatrackclub.org

* If a male and female athlete wins two races plus the PRRO Championship in the same year, the circuit purse is divided equally.

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