May 2009 Archives

Running one marathon is plenty for most people, but not Dean Karnazes.

The 46-year-old ultra-marathoner who grew up in Southern California will return - on foot - to run in the 2009 Los Angeles Marathon next Monday on Memorial Day, May 25, by running approximately 100 miles from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles on Saturday and Sunday!

"I'm an L.A. native, so I feel a certain affinity for the L.A. Marathon and I so look forward to running it every year," he said on a video posted on YouTube on May 9. "In fact, one of my fondest memories ever is my Dad running the L.A. Marathon; he ran the inaugural L.A. Marathon and I was there to watch him cross that finish line. It left an impression on me forever.

"So the weekend of the L.A. Marathon, I'm actually going to be staying in Santa Barbara. It's about 100 miles from Santa Barbara where I'm staying to the L.A. Marathon, so I'll take off about 24 hours in advance to run the 100 miles. I'll run right down the Pacific Coast Highway, right along the coast. It will be extremely beautiful, so I look forward to that. I'll run to the Expo, actually, on Sunday and I'm going to give a talk, so if anyone wants to come listen to me talk, I'll be at the Expo on Sunday afternoon and then I'll probably kick about and run the Marathon with everyone on Monday. It seems like a great weekend."

Karnazes will appear at free-to-the-public Run/Ex/09 at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. to share his experience of running down the coast over the prior 24 hours.

"My earliest recollection of running was running home from kindergarten," he noted. "I started running at six years old." He recalled that he ran his first marathon at age 14, but then gave it up as he matured, graduating from San Clemente High School and then majoring in food science technology at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

"I found myself in a bar on my 30th birthday," he remembered in the video. "I said to my buddies at 11 o'clock at night, 'I'm going to go running tonight. I'm going to run 30 miles to celebrate my 30th birthday.' And they said, 'You're drunk,' and I said, 'Yeah, I am, but I'm still going to do it.' So I walked out of a bar at 11 at night and literally ran all night long." That marked his return to running and he's been on the roads ever since. "You really stretch the boundaries of the human spirit and human endurance," he said, noting that he's run as much as 350 miles non-stop.

Asked how many marathons he's run, he replies that, "I stopped counting at 100; I don't think I've quite run 200." But he respects the distance and the effort required, "Completing a marathon is an incredible achievement; it's something that 99.9% of people will never do."

Karnazes, who lives in Marin County, isn't planning on resting much after Monday's L.A. Marathon, though. He'll be on the road to race again in San Diego the next weekend.

>> For more information on the Los Angeles Marathon, visit www.lamarathon.com

>> For more information on the Acura L.A. Bike Tour, visit www.acuraLAbiketour.com

"We inspire athletes and connect communities. Anchored by the iconic Los Angeles Marathon, our three sporting events draw more than 25,000 athletes, 5,000 volunteers, and one million spectators along the route to sunny Southern California for the L.A. Marathon, the Acura L.A. Bike Tour, and our 5K Run/Walk, making race day one of the world's largest days of participatory sport."

~ Russ Pillar, President, Los Angeles Marathon

The Los Angeles Marathon is presented by Honda and sponsored by Acura (title sponsor of the Acura L.A. Bike Tour), KNBC-4 Los Angeles, Springfield Water, Emerald Nuts, Gatorade, Clif Bar, Salonpas, Don Francisco's Coffee, Michelob ULTRA, New Performance Nutrition and Whole Foods Market.

SOURCE L.A. Marathon

People around the world now have a rare opportunity to own a piece of America's rich history. Iconic and cherished items from the original Yankee Stadium, a landmark that is regarded as one of the most significant monuments in sports history, are now available via a public sale and auction by visiting www.steinersports.com or calling 1-800-759-SCORE and 914-307-1000.

Yankees-Steiner Collectibles, the exclusive provider of game-used memorabilia from the original and current Yankee Stadium, announced that collectibles - such as the seats where Reggie Jackson's monstrous home runs landed and the sod where Yankees legends stood to say their final goodbyes to their beloved Stadium - are immediately available to people worldwide.

The "Yankee Stadium Legends" online auction, commencing today and closing on Friday, July 24 between 8:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. ET, features a total of 1,500 distinctive pieces. Prospective bidders will have the ability to register for the auction and sign-up for updates at http://auctions.steinersports.com.

Twenty-six unique items, including a Yankees Bat Rack from the home dugout and the "Courage Tradition Heart" sign which was located above the awning of the Yankees front office entrance, will be immediately available through the auction. Each week, additional collectibles will be offered and updates will be provided to the public via registration at http://auctions.steinersports.com.

In addition to the "Yankee Stadium Legends" online auction, authentic Stadium-related memorabilia will be placed on sale immediately at www.steinersports.com, including:

• 1 ft. x 1 ft. pieces of live sod from Yankee Stadium: $120
• Pairs of Stadium seats: ranging from $1499 - $1999; commemorative single seats: $750
• Final Season Crystals with Genuine Dirt from the original Yankee Stadium: $80
• Original bricks from Monument Park in a glass case with etched Yankees logo: $150

"The closing of the original Yankee Stadium marked the end of an era in sports history, but today is the beginning of an unprecedented opportunity for people throughout the world to own a piece of America's past and the great Yankees tradition," said Brandon Steiner, Founder and CEO of Steiner Sports. "For nine decades, Yankee Stadium was home to the most successful and glorious franchise in all of sports. Legendary heroes such as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Joe DiMaggio, Reggie Jackson and Derek Jeter were a part of this beloved Stadium which can now live on in each fan's household."

"We are excited to give our great fans a chance to take home a piece of the Yankee Stadium legacy through this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," said New York Yankees Chief Operating Officer Lonn A. Trost. "These treasures allow the Yankees' legacy to live on and provide fans with keepsakes they can pass along from generation to generation."

Yankees-Steiner Collectibles, originally created in 2004, is a partnership between the New York Yankees and Steiner Sports to provide sports fans with unique access to New York Yankees memorabilia and experiences.

To enable fans from around the world to connect to their beloved team in a unique way, Yankees-Steiner Collectibles is joined by DeLea Sod, the official sod grower of the New York Yankees.

SOURCE Steiner Sports Marketing, Inc.