Mayor Wynn Makes Campaign Promise: Re-elect Me and I'll Run the Marathon
by Wish, 2/10/2006

Austin Mayor Will Wynn was honored on Friday with the fifth annual "Columbia Award" by the Freescale Austin Marathon for his contributions to running and his work to make Austin one of the healthiest cities in America. At the conclusion of his speech before a gathering of the media at the Hyatt, Mayor Wynn, who has run the Chicago, New York City and Boston marathons, pledged, "If you re-elect me, I'll run Freescale in my second term."

That pledge is probably the first time any elected official has made running a marathon part of his campaign platform.

Wynn's statement was just one of the highlights of a press conference kicking off festivities for the Freescale Marathon on February 19th. At the press briefing, race director John Conley outlined some of the highlights, course changes and other improvements for next Sunday's marathon.

Among the highlights announced by Conley is a 15 percent growth in registration (half and marathon), bringing the total registrants to nearly 10,000 with several hundred more expected to register in the final week. Of those 10,000, Conley said, runners from 48 states and 22 countries are represented. Almost 67 percent of the entrants are from Texas which is down slightly from last year.

Although 55 percent of marathoners are men, women dominate the numbers of the half. More than 60 percent of the half marathoners will be women.

The new course, Conley said on Friday, is faster and has a better balance. "Our course last year, dropped 400 feet," said the longtime race director, "but it dropped 300 feet in the first half and only 100 feet in the second half. This year, there is a 175 foot drop in the first half, but it drops 258 feet on the back part of it."

There are also seven fewer turns. Conley also said that Cesar Chavez, which is essentially the final four miles of the race, will be completely lined with bands. "There will be more music this year, but the final stretch along Cesar Chavez will be a wall of sound," said Conley.

He also announced that there will be a special Invitational Half Marathon, presented by Coca Cola. Eight world-class men will start the Invitational at 8 a.m. at the halfway mark of the marathon and race to the finish of the marathon on Riverside Drive along Auditorium Shores. They are expected to reach the finish about 9:02, approximately 10 minutes ahead of the first marathoners.

The Invitational men will be led by two-time U.S. Olympian Alan Culpepper, a native Texan, who now lives in Louisville, Colorado. Culpepper is using the Freescale course as a tune up race for the Boston Marathon because the topography of Freescale simulates Boston.

Culpepper, who wants to run a 1:01, will have plenty of company, including Houston Half Marathon winner (as well as Motive Bison and 3M champ) Nicodemus Malakwen and his Kenyan countryman David Cheruiyot who won the Houston Marathon a month ago. Austinite Bernard Manirakiza, who ran 1:03 at 3M, is also expected to run the Invitational.

Greg McMillan, an Austin-based, online running coach (www.mcmillanrunning.com) was also at the press conference to unveil the Olympic Development Program which he has coordinated. The program is bringing in 50 American Olympic hopefuls for the Freescale Marathon. These 50 runners (31 men, 19 women) will all be seeking Olympic Trials qualifying times at Freescale for the 2008 Olympic Marathon Trials. Freescale is providing incentive money for these Olympic hopefuls and there will be pacers for each time goal. Men have to run 2:22 and women 2:47 to qualify for the Olympic Marathon Trials.

"We want them to walk away from here with fast times and feeling great about Austin and our running community," said McMillan. "We'll have a large contingent of national-class marathoners running for Olympic Trials qualifying times and special achievements. We hope they'll spread the word around the country about our marathon."

Jeff Hahn, public relations director for Freescale, presented Mayor Wynn with the Columbia Award which he gratefully accepted.

The Mayor said: "I am excited about the Freescale Marathon and how it's been put together and expanded. Freescale is just one example of what makes Austin such a phenomenal running city. In fact, our outdoor recreation defines our city. Of cities with 500,000 people or more, Austin is the youngest city in America and our outdoor recreation facilities and races help to make it such a vibrant place to live."

Wynn shared some facts about the Town Lake Hike and Bike Trail which he uses on a regular basis. The Mayor said the trail gets 1.5 million citizen visits a year and 16,000 people use it 100 times a year or more. "But," the Mayor said, "we only spend $88,000 a year on it.

"So we have very fit people in Austin, but there is also the rest of the city. There are certain areas-namely east Travis County-where we need to do a better job in working against such diseases as obesity and diabetes. In this intervention zone, the mortality rate is 25 percent higher than other parts of the city."

The Mayor mentioned a new campaign called "I Thrive" which will encourage any and all forms of exercise, particularly among younger citizens.

"We are going to reduce public health costs because we're going to reduce the need for health care," the Mayor said. "We are going to accomplish this with nutritional changes, avoiding risky behavior and having our citizens exercising on a daily basis.

"I'm very honored to receive the Columbia Award and I'm awed by the coordination and energy of this marathon. I'll be at the finish line this year. And hopefully, I'll be running next year."