WVU Medicine to be presenting sponsor for second annual Morgantown Marathon Weekend Experience

WVU Medicine will be a presenting sponsor for the second annual Morgantown Marathon Weekend Experience, scheduled for Sept. 17-18.

“We couldn’t be more thrilled that WVU Medicine saw the success of last year’s inaugural event and has stepped up to join us in not only promoting health and wellness in our community but also bringing runners from around the world to our beautiful city, region and state,” Jamie Summerlin, race director for the Morgantown Marathon, said. “This partnership will allow us to promote the good we have in the state with a particular focus on showcasing WVU Medicine’s belief in a healthier community that can benefit us all.”

“Getting involved with last year’s event was a no-brainer because it goes hand in hand with our mission to improve the health of those we serve,” Albert L. Wright, Jr., WVU Medicine COO and president and CEO of WVU Medicine-WVU Hospitals, said. “We are very excited and proud to be the presenting sponsor for this year’s marathon weekend."

The inaugural Morgantown Marathon Weekend Experience attracted more than 1,200 runners from across the globe, as far away as Australia and Singapore, as well as runners from 36 states around the country.

Runners for the full marathon experienced a unique and diverse course, traversing all seven of the city’s wards, experiencing quiet country roads and a run through the West Virginia University campus.

“The feedback from a lot of the participants was overwhelmingly positive, as we tried to bring the good from the many race experiences our committee has had to this one event. From the Mountain Mama 8K, the WVU Medicine 13er and the Tour Morgantown Marathon, we tried to introduce not only the runners to our great city but also open the eyes of the community to what other cities are doing around the country to promote tourism, health and wellness, and opportunities that are right here in our backyard to enjoy a healthier lifestyle,” Summerlin said.

“We were also excited to hold true to our promise of supporting our veterans in this great state by donating the proceeds of the inaugural event, as well as this year's event, to Operation Welcome Home. The tremendous support of our sponsors, runners and community members allowed us to make a donation of $65,000 to the organization, enabling it to provide job opportunities for our servicemen and women who have served our country so bravely.”

Online registration for the 2016 WVU Medicine Morgantown Marathon Experience began today (Feb. 15) at noon. A 10 percent registration discount will be offered for all races for the first five days that registration is open. Also, employees of WVU Medicine who would like to participate can enter the code "WVU20MED16" and receive a 20 percent discount.

The hashtag #RunMotown will serve as the promotion tag for the event across all social media networks, and runners and supporters are encouraged to use that hashtag when talking about or promoting the event.