New Balance will be the official footwear sponsor of Elite Racing’s series of musical marathons. The five race series includes the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon in San Diego, CA, Country Music Marathon and ½ Marathon in Nashville, TN, the P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Marathon & ½ Marathon in Phoenix, Scottsdale and Tempe, and the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathons in Virginia Beach, VA. and San Jose, CA. New Balance has signed on to sponsor the race series for three years through 2009 as part of the company’s recently launched NBx campaign which focuses on the dedicated runner.

“New Balance is excited to be involved in the Elite Racing musical marathon race series, which celebrates the spirit of competition and personal achievement,” says Paul Heffernan, executive vice president of global marketing at New Balance. “This series resonates with all levels of runners from novice to dedicated to elite and will enable us to continue to highlight our innovative footwear and unique brand attributes.”

As the official footwear sponsor of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon series, New Balance will showcase their new NBx performance footwear collection at the Health & Fitness Expo and at retail locations around the respective race areas. The New Balance expo booth will be branded with NBx messaging (desirex, heartx, dedicationx) and images which celebrate the individual passion, drive, and determination of the dedicated runner.

On race day, New Balance will offer runners a special destination at the finish line which addresses all of their recovery needs. This zone, “recoveryx”, will feature trainers assisting and demonstrating proper post-race recovery techniques, comfortable seating areas, complimentary take-away materials educating runners on the importance of proper recovery and NBx branded giveaways. Runners will also receive email and direct mail communication through the recoveryx integrated marketing campaign.

New Balance will also outfit race and volunteer staff in NBx footwear and coordinate regional retail promotions and advertising activities around each race.

“We are proud to welcome New Balance to Elite Racing’s family of musical running events,” says Bruce Herring president of Elite Racing, Inc. “New Balance has a long tradition of manufacturing quality athletic footwear and we are pleased that they selected Elite Racing’s events as a means of reaching runners.”