COWTOWN NEWS & INFORMATION FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – 1/20/2016 Heidi Swartz – 817-207-0224, [email protected]

2016 Cowtown Marathon Elite Challenge Nearly $30,000 in Guaranteed Prize Money to be Awarded in Marathon, Half Marathon & Ultra Marathon

New Regional Prize Money and Challenge

(Fort Worth, TX) --The Cowtown, in partnership with MarathonGuide.com, announced today that they will be offering nearly $30,000 in guaranteed cash prizes for the fastest runners in the Marathon, Half Marathon and Ultra Marathon races; including a new regional challenge pitting runners from DFW against their competitors from the rest of Texas and bordering states. In addition, bonus money will be offered to all marathon-distance runners bettering the past course records. For the Marathon and Half Marathon, prize money will be awarded to the top three finishers: $2,500 to the first man and woman, $1,500 to the male and female second-place finisher and $750 to the third finishers. For the Ultra Marathon (50K), $1,500 will be awarded to the first man or woman and $750 to the runner-ups. Beyond the prizes for the top finishers, $500 will be awarded to every finisher who runs faster than the previous course records in any of the Sunday races. The times qualifying for a $500 bonus are any finish time sub-2:17:12 (men) or sub-2:42:31 (women) in the marathon; any finish time sub-1:06:02 (men) or sub1:15:24 (women) in the half marathon; and any finish time sub-3:00:21 (men) or sub-3:54:20 (women) in the 50K distance. An additional $2,000 will be offered to anyone setting a national record on any of the marathon courses – and there are indications that at least one runner will be coming to challenge the 50K National Record. In addition, for 2016, a regional challenge will be presented in the Marathon with prize money. Regional runners - those from Texas or a Bordering State - will individually receive a cash prize of $500/$400/$300/$200/$100, respectively, for the top five men and top five women in the marathon distance. "In the first year of the Cowtown Elite Program we focused on the Marathon and in the second year we focused the program on the Half Marathon – bringing records down in both distances. In the third year, we hope to entice runners with strong prizes for the top finishers as well as guaranteed money to everyone who comes to Cowtown and betters the previous records,” said Heidi Swartz, Executive Director of the Cowtown. “We are also so proud of our DFW runners and look forward to the competition showing that they can better the rest of the region.” "MarathonGuide.com is proud to help support the Cowtown and its program to bring in professional runners and provide additional and reachable prize and bonus opportunities. We were part of the first two years of the program and were truly impressed by the care the event took of its runners and the professionalism of the organization. We look forward to the program in 2016.” Athletes who would like to compete for one of the prize opportunities in the Marathon or Half Marathon will be provided with race entry and hotel accommodation on a first-come-first serve basis. To be eligible, runners should be able to provide finishing results in 2015 or later in the appropriate distance for which they will be competing at the following standards; in the Half Marathon, sub 1:10:00 for men or sub 1:20:00 for women; and in the Marathon, sub 2:25:00 for men and sub 2:55:00 for women.

www.cowtownmarathon.org

The Cowtown is one of the largest multi-event races in the State of Texas and was voted favorite marathon by Competitor Magazine and readers in January 2015. The Cowtown is scheduled for Friday, February 26 thru Sunday, February 28, 2016 at Will Rogers Memorial Center, Fort Worth, Texas. In 2014, The Cowtown had over 26,000 runners participating in six different distances. The Cowtown is expecting a record year as it celebrates 38 years of running. Established in 1979, The Cowtown races are presented by the University of North Texas Health Science Center, Chase, HCA North Texas, MillerCoors, Star-Telegram, NBC 5, Cook Children’s Healthcare System and Bruce Lowrie Chevrolet. Launched in March 2000, MarathonGuide.com is the go-to resource for all things marathoning. In addition to its website, MarathonGuide.com supports events through registration and technical services and supports events through registration and technical services and supports professional runners through sponsorship opportunities.

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