Laura Wright Promoted
Grandma's Marathon-Duluth, Inc. is proud to announce that Laura Wright has been named director of event and program development for the nonprofit organization.

Wright joined Grandma's Marathon in 1999 as the assistant promotions coordinator intern. In March of 2000, after graduating from the University of Minnesota Duluth, she was hired as the public relations director.

In her new position, Wright will focus on the creation and implementation of new events and programs as well as working to develop and improve existing Grandma's Marathon programs. She will also play a lead role in orchestrating auxiliary events held during Grandma's Marathon weekend and throughout the year, coordinating and meeting the needs of VIP Guests, developing and overseeing merchandise operations and assisting with the production of all race publications.

Clear Channel Radio Signs On As The Official Radio Station
Since the beginning of Grandma's Marathon, live radio coverage has brought the excitement of the race to listeners throughout the region with play-by-play reports from the race course and the finish line. Grandma's Marathon is excited to continue this tradition with the help of Clear Channel Radio, the newest major media sponsor of Grandma's Marathon.

"We are extremely excited about this new partnership with Clear Channel Radio. It will no doubt open up doors for Grandma's Marathon to continue to grow and be successful, and it will certainly give us the opportunity to reach more listeners than we ever have before both locally and state-wide," says Scott Keenan, executive director of Grandma's Marathon. "The team at Clear Channel Radio is so enthusiastic and it's clear that they will bring great energy to covering our events. We are really looking forward to working with them for many years to come."

For the past three years, Mix 108, a Clear Channel Radio station, has provided up-beat, energetic and commercial-free music for runners to listen to during Grandma's Marathon and the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon. As the new official radio station of Grandma's Marathon, Clear Channel Radio will step-up their efforts during marathon weekend by providing live coverage of the race from start to finish as well as comprehensive race updates from WEBC-AM The FAN 560.

In addition, in the months, weeks and days leading up to the event, all four of Clear Channel Radio's stations including WEBC-AM The FAN 560, B105 (KKCB-FM), KOOL 101.7 (KLDJ-FM) and Mix 108 (KBMX-FM), will feature interviews with Grandma's Marathon officials, race legends, volunteers and elite athletes.

"All of us at Clear Channel Radio are ecstatic about our new relationship with Grandma's Marathon," says Ron Stone, market manager for Clear Channel Radio Duluth. "While we have been promoting the events of the Marathon for the past two years unofficially, we will now be working in an official capacity with the marathon to bring the full force of the Clear Channel stations in Duluth and around the state to expand the coverage of the event to new and exciting levels never heard before on radio."

Grandma's Marathon is the 13th largest marathon in the United States and the course runs along the beautiful north shore of Lake Superior from Two Harbors to Duluth, MN. The 26.2-mile race was created in 1977 by a local running club, the North Shore Striders. What started as a small road race with 150 participants has grown to become a weekend running festival-- Grandma's Marathon, the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon, and the William A. Irvin 5K---that attracted over 17,000 runners from around the globe in 2006. The 31st annual Grandma's Marathon is June 16, 2007.

For more information about Grandma's Marathon, see the event Web site www.grandmasmarathon.com