Press Release - Cleveland Marathon - 4/15/05

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                         Contact: Tom Koch
                                                  HighlandPR
                                                  (330) 996-4140
                                                  


     NATIONAL RUNNING ORGANIZATION SAYS RITE AID CLEVELAND MARATHON 
                     IS ONE OF FASTEST IN THE COUNTRY
                          

CLEVELAND, (April 15, 2005) – Marathon runners participating in the Rite
Aid Cleveland Marathon are among the fastest in the country according to
statistical information released by a professional running organization.

RunningUSA, a non-profit professional association devoted to improving
the status of road racing and long distance running in the United States,
has released its annual marathon report which concludes that Cleveland’s
marathon course had the fastest median times in 2004 among all larger
marathons with over 1,000 finishers. The median time recorded by computer
chips worn by athletes for timing purposes, was 4:04. The report, prepared
by the Road Running Information Center of RunningUSA said Cleveland and
Philadelphia "remain the fastest of the larger marathons RRIC had complete
results for in 2004."

"Not only is Cleveland one of the fastest marathons in the country, it is
also one of the most scenic," said Jack Staph, executive director of the
Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon & 10K.  "Our new marathon course, which we
unveiled last year, takes runners on a scenic tour of the city of
Cleveland that includes numerous ethnic neighborhoods, a revitalized
downtown and the wonderful park-like setting around University Circle;
capped off with a breathtaking view of Lake Erie in the final miles of the
race."

RRIC says the 230 marathons in the U.S. grew by 3.7 percent last year
over the previous year. The report shows dramatic growth in the number of
U.S. marathon finishers since records were first kept in 1976. The total
number of finishers in 1976 was 25,000 compared to 423,000 finishers last
year.

The RRIC report concludes that there were 58 marathons in the U.S. last
year that had 1,000 or more finishers, compared to only 26 marathons
fifteen years ago.

In addition to being the fastest marathon in the U.S., the Rite Aid
Cleveland Marathon is also one of the 50 longest running marathons in the
country.

For additional information or to register for this year's marathon on May
22, visit www.clevelandmarathon.com. To view the complete RRIC Annual
Marathon Report, visit www.runningusa.org.


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