The Weather Channel Announced as Title Sponsor for Atlanta Track Club's Atlanta Marathon and Half Marathon

The Weather Channel Announced as Title Sponsor for Atlanta Track Club's Atlanta Marathon and Half Marathon

ATLANTA, March 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Atlanta Track club has signed The Weather Channel (TWC) as title sponsor for the 47th running of the Atlanta Marathon and Half Marathon. The Weather Channel Atlanta Marathon will be held on Thanksgiving Day, November 27, 2008 and include a marathon, half marathon and a 1-mile fun run for kids.

(Logo:

http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080318/CLTU075LOGO )

During the three month period leading up to race day, TWC will produce and air profiles of five runners training in different geographic climates across the country. This will be the first long distance event for the five trainees, and profiles will track the trials and triumphs of training for their first half-marathon. A multi-platform effort for TWC, additional content will also be exhibited on its official website, www.weather.com. Content will include the training profiles, video vignettes, blogs from the featured runners, running tips, running calculators, and local route maps. This is the first sponsorship for TWC in the running industry.

"We are excited about this opportunity with the Atlanta Track Club and the running community," said Paul Iaffaldano, Executive Vice President and General Manager of TWC Media Solutions, "TWC aims to bring informative and unique content to our viewers and this sponsorship helps us to enter and better understand the running world with the support of a world class organization in the Atlanta Track Club."

Tracey Russell, Executive Director of the Atlanta Track Club, echoes Iaffaldano's excitement. "This partnership will breed new opportunities for the marathon and our organization. The national exposure and credibility TWC brings to the table are exactly what we were looking for in a sponsor."

The Atlanta Marathon and Half Marathon is the oldest marathon in the Southeast and among the 10 oldest in the country. 8,500 total runners participated last year. Registration for The Weather Channel Atlanta Marathon and Half Marathon opens April 1, 2008, at the Atlanta Track Club's official website, www.atlantatrackclub.org .

About The Weather Channel

The Weather Channel, a 24-hour weather network, is seen in more than 96 million U.S. households. The Weather Channel reaches more than 35 million unique users online per month and is the most popular source of online weather, news and information according to Nielsen//Net Ratings. The Weather Channel also operates Weatherscan, a 24-hour, all-local weather network available in 22 million households, The Weather Channel Radio Network, The Weather Channel Newspaper Services, and is the leading weather information provider for emerging technologies. This includes broadband and interactive television applications, with wireless weather products accessible through high-speed Internet services, phones, pagers and personal digital assistants. The Weather Channel is owned by Landmark Communications, Inc., a Norfolk, VA- based, privately held media company. For more information, visit www.weather.com .

About the Atlanta Track Club

The Atlanta Track Club is the second largest running organization in the United States with more then 9,000 members. In addition to organizing The Weather Channel Atlanta Marathon, the Atlanta Track Club organizes the world's largest 10k -- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race -- and more than 25 additional running events per year.

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Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080318/CLTU075LOGO
AP Archive:

http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: The Weather Channel

CONTACT: Tracey Russell of the Atlanta Track Club, +1-404-231-9064 x14,
trussell@atlantatrackclub.org; Marla Hoppenfeld of The Weather Channel,
+1-770-226-2409, mhoppenfeld@weather.com

Web site:

http://www.weather.com/
http://www.atlantatrackclub.org/

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