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Nike New York Media Relations
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Joe Goode, Bank of America
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NIKE JOINS BANK OF AMERICA CHICAGO MARATHON AS OFFICIAL
FOOTWEAR AND APPAREL SPONSOR
Nike Running Delivers Motivational Tools to Help Prepare Marathon Participants
CHICAGO, IL. (April 10, 2008) – Nike today announced a new multi-year agreement with Bank of
America to become the official footwear and apparel sponsor of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon®,
beginning with the October 12, 2008 race, as well as the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle®.
As an event sponsor for the next five years, Nike will provide the official merchandise for race
participants, personnel and pacers, and will operate a comprehensive 17-week marathon training
program in Chicago, beginning in June 2008, to prepare and motivate all participants.
To complement this training program and to support the global group of runners who participate in the
Bank of America Chicago Marathon, Nike Running has made available two new products to evolve the
Nike+ experience, giving runners more options for how they want to run and train. Available today, the
Nike+ SportBand is a wristwatch that also monitors a runner’s steps, allowing runners to “See How They
Run,” checking time, pace, distance and calories burned, with a glance. The Nike+ SportBand watch face
is a detachable USB link that captures all the run data from a sensor located in the runner’s Nike+ ready
footwear.
Nike+ Coach is a runner’s own personal online trainer—empowering runners with the information and
motivation needed to train for a 5K, a 10K, half-marathon or full marathon—and an easy, accessible way
to connect to the world’s largest global running community at nikeplus.com. As of February 2008, Nike+
runners have run more than 50 million miles on nikeplus.com—the equivalent of completing more than
1.9 million Chicago Marathons.
“Both debut and elite runners can now rely on Nike for the 24/7 support they need to get it done, gut it out
and take on the remarkable challenge of participating in one of the world’s preeminent marathons,” said
Leslie Lane, Nike global vice president for running. “We will bring a new energy and our distinct passion
to this 31-year institution that has hosted many thrilling finishes and exceptional accomplishments,
including Paula Radcliffe’s world record-shattering performance in 2002. We are honored to enter into a
relationship with Bank of America, another blue-chip brand with a rich history of promoting sports
excellence.”
“As a leader in the running industry, Nike has demonstrated a longstanding passion for the sport, and we
are excited to welcome them as new partners to our Chicago-based running events,” said Bank of
America Illinois President David Rudis. “Leveraging their expertise is consistent with our commitment to
strengthening and growing our events, and ushering in an exciting new era for the Bank of America
Chicago Marathon.”
Local Commitment
The Marathon sponsorship is the cornerstone of Nike Chicago’s efforts to support the more than 1 million
runners in the Chicagoland area, explained Daryl Jones, general manager, Nike Chicago.
“We are proud of our commitment to and support of local runners of all levels,” said Jones. “Nike Chicago
has created and sponsored many races, as well as supported several local elite running teams. We also
provided area high school coaches with educational clinics and look forward to improving a Chicago-area
running track later this year.”
One of the five races comprising the World Marathon Majors, the Bank of America Chicago Marathon is
the second largest marathon in the United States, attracting 45,000 runners every year.
About Nike+
With Nike+, runners never have to train alone again. Nike+ enables footwear to talk to an iPod nano or
Nike+ SportBand, giving instant performance information and real-time feedback during a run. Like a
personal coach or training partner, Nike+ puts this information at runners’ fingertips, in the process
creating a Nike+ revolution. As of February, 2008, Nike+ members have run over 50,000,000 miles,
logged over 14,000,000 runs and issued over 450,000 challenges. Nike+ has also created the world’s
largest running club at nikeplus.com, a global running community where Nike+ members can log their run
data, track their progress, utilize training tools, and connect with other members all over the world.
About Nike
NIKE, Inc. based near Beaverton, Oregon, is the world's leading designer, marketer and distributor of
authentic athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories for a wide variety of sports and fitness
activities. Wholly owned Nike subsidiaries include Converse Inc., which designs, markets and distributes
athletic footwear, apparel and accessories; Cole Haan Holdings Incorporated, which designs, markets
and distributes luxury shoes, handbags, accessories and coats; Umbro Ltd., a leading United Kingdombased global football (soccer) brand; and Hurley International LLC, which designs, markets and
distributes action sports and youth lifestyle footwear, apparel and accessories. For more information, visit
www.nikebiz.com.
About the Bank of America Chicago Marathon
The Bank of America Chicago Marathon will host its 31st annual running on Sunday, October 12, 2008 as
45,000 participants advance to the start line, embarking on the culmination of 45,000 personal journeys.
Along with the massive field of recreational runners, the 26.2-mile course will welcome a full field of worldrenowned professional athletes drawn to the flat, fast, urban setting and the potential to break world
and national records. The professionals will compete for a portion of the $579,000 prize purse and points
in the World Marathon Majors series which will crown its 2007-08 male and female champions with
$500,000 each at the close of 2008. Since the inception of its charity program in 2002, the Bank of
America Chicago Marathon has generated more than $38 million for a variety of charitable causes
including $10.5 million in accordance with the 2007 event alone. Registration for the race is available
online at chicagomarathon.com until the participant capacity of 45,000 is reached. For more information,
visit chicagomarathon.com.
About Bank of America
Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small
and middle market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset
management and other financial and risk-management products and services. The company provides
unmatched convenience in the United States, serving more than 59 million consumer and small business
relationships with more than 6,100 retail banking offices, nearly 19,000 ATMs and award-winning online
banking with nearly 24 million active users. Bank of America is the No. 1 overall Small Business
Administration (SBA) lender in the United States and the No. 1 SBA lender to minority-owned small
businesses. The company serves clients in 175 countries and has relationships with 99 percent of the
U.S. Fortune 500 companies and 83 percent of the Global Fortune 500. Bank of America Corporation
stock (NYSE: BAC) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. www.bankofamerica.com.