This weekend's 14th Philadelphia Marathon to feature first branded marathon blue line to help runners get there.

The last thing a marathon runner wants to worry about is running shoes. In the same way, drivers want to have confidence that their "shoes" - their tires - will perform in a variety of conditions. The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company will make the connection between the two as it has announced its status as Official Tire of the 2007 Philadelphia Marathon.

As part of the agreement, Goodyear will make running history by literally putting its mark on the race course. The marathon's "blue line" that leads runners through the race's 26.2 miles will be painted in the pattern of the company's signature TripleTredTM Technology tread pattern. This event is believed to be the first time in the history of road racing that a marathon line has featured a branded design. The pattern will be seen by the 15,000 runners and more than 100,000 spectators anticipated to be in attendance on race day. The race will be held in and around the city of Philadelphia on Sunday, November 18.

On marathon Sunday, 1.5 million Philadelphians with awaken to find a unique sight, a blue tire-tread line starting in front of Philadelphia's famous Museum of Art and continuing for more than 26 miles in the shadows of Independence Hall, Penn's Landing and the Liberty Bell. Goodyear will also lay down the line in a big way, via an enormous, six-foot tall replica Fortera TripleTred tire, which will roll the line out over the entire course.

Over two nights leading into the marathon, the rolling replica Goodyear tire will paint the groundbreaking patterned blue line in a biodegradable, all natural vegetable-based latex paint. Philadelphia mayor John F. Street will begin the line painting in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art during a Thursday, November 15 press conference.

"The Philadelphia Marathon gives us an original opportunity to communicate the real-world benefits of our award-winning TripleTred Technology," said Ed Markey, Goodyear's North American Tire vice president of PR and communications. "Our new Goodyear 'Get there' advertising campaign is all about helping consumers reach their destinations with confidence and peace of mind. In Philadelphia, we'll be helping 15,000 marathoners 'get there' to the finish line with confidence."

"The Philadelphia Marathon is a wonderful part of the city's great sports tradition, and we are pleased to have Goodyear as the newest member of our Marathon family," said Janis L. Pierce, Deputy City Representative and Philadelphia Marathon Executive Director. "Through our relationship, we can continue to enhance the race as it reaches its next plateau of prominence as one of the nation's premier race destinations. Goodyear will be helping us by painting our runners' blue line and will outfit the entire fleet of official Philadelphia Marathon race vehicles with tires equipped with Goodyear's great TripleTred Technology. Together, we will get our runners and participants there."

As the Official Tire of the Philadelphia Marathon, Goodyear will lay it all on the 'line' and support its sponsorship through a wide variety of initiatives including providing tires for all race vehicles, distributing unique Goodyear Get there fan signs at local dealers and at all marathon cheer zones, hosting a booth at the Heath & Fitness Expo and running a series of marathon specific advertisements.

For more race information, visit: PhiladelphiaMarathon.com.

Registration for the 2007 Philadelphia Marathon and half marathon is now closed. Registration for the Rothman Institute 8K is still open.