HALL OF FAME ADDS WORLD RECORD HOLDER DISPLAY

UTICA, NY, March 28 – Sports’ newest Hall of Fame recently added some distinctive
memorabilia to its outstanding collection. The National Distance Running Hall of Fame
announced that it now houses personal memorabilia from both the male and female
world record holders in the marathon.

According to Hall co-director John Petrone: "We have received the singlet, shorts, socks
and shoes that Catherine Ndereba of Kenya wore when she set the women’s mark of
2:18.47 in the 2001 Chicago Marathon last October." That collection is now on display
near the gear worn by Khalid Khannouchi, who set the men’s marathon record, also in
Chicago in 1999. "We’re thrilled to have both," added Petrone, "and it means something
extra because Catherine and Khalid make it a point to run in Utica’s Boilermaker
Road Race each July and to stop by the Hall to meet the fans."

"It’s a great honor to donate my things to the Hall of Fame," said Ms. Ndereba. "I’m
especially proud to be in the company of so many great athletes who have accomplished
so many incredible things."

Nowhere else can you find as distinctive a collection of memorabilia, artifacts, remembrances
or information about the sport of distance running as can be found in the three-story
Distance Running Hall of Fame in downtown Utica. Besides the plaques honoring
the 17 men and women who have been enshrined – among them Frank Shorter, Bill
Rodgers, Kathrine Switzer, Alberto Salazar, Joan Benoit Samuelson, Steve Prefontaine
and others – there are some extraordinary tokens of the sport that cannot be found anywhere
else. Whether these items are training logs from the greats, shorts and shoes worn during
record-breaking performances, or simply the trademark cap from the first time Fred Lebow
ran the five-borough New York City Marathon, you will find them at the Hall of Fame.

In addition, you can see the sport’s history in America as well as its evolution of equipment.
A trip through the Hall lets you recapture some of the sport’s most memorable
moments. Among the displays is the petition signed by runners of the 1972 New York
City Marathon in support of equal rights for women runners; the handmade spike shoe
made by Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman (a candidate for induction this year) for Hall
of Famer Bill Dellinger; and the bronzed shoes worn by Jesse Owens when setting his
American records in the 100 and 200-yard dashes.

Utica is only a short three-hour drive from New York City and the Distance Running
Hall is located along the Empire State’s historic "Hall of Fame Corridor," along with
baseball’s hall at Cooperstown, boxing’s hall in Canastota and soccer’s hall in Oneonta.
Utica is also home to one of distance running’s most famous races, the Boilermaker
Road Race, the largest 15K in the world that attracts more than 12,000 runners each
year, including some of the sport’s most famous and outstanding performers. The race
is run during the same weekend in which the Hall of Fame holds its induction ceremonies
for the newest members. This year the events will be held on July 13-14.