Lynn Jennings

New York, September 4 -- In a landmark moment for women's running Avon Products, Inc. has launched the Avon Running - Global Women's Circuit, an international series of races and fitness walks, it was announced today by Jim Preston, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Avon Products, Inc. Preston was joined by current superstars Lynn Jennings and Yuko Arimori, as well as road racing legends such as Joan Benoit Samuelson and Grete Waitz.

Unprecedented in the world of sports, the series of 10 km runs, 5 km walks and pre-race clinics is the only program that simultaneously reaches out to women of all ages with the opportunity to pursue elite racing, moderate running, or simple fitness in one unified international circuit. Headquartered at Avon's Global offices in New York, the circuit will open in 16 countries in 1998 and will expand to new cities each year. These countries include Germany, Italy, UK, Hungary, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Venezuela, Panama, Mexico, Canada, Thailand, China, Malaysia, the Philippines and the USA.

Jim Preston - CEO

"We recognize the vital role that sports and fitness play in helping women stay healthy," said Jim Preston. "Our company has a long history in women's running and this unique circuit will encourage the next generation of female running stars to continue the quest to be the best."

Races in the United States comprise 10 major events in Hartford, Baltimore, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Chicago, Sacramento, Denver, Dallas, Portland, OR and Kansas City, MO.

Winners in the elite and masters division at each United States venue will qualify for an all-expense paid trip to compete at the Avon Running U.S. National Championship. Winners from each international venue will be considered Avon Running National Champions and will be flown, courtesy of Avon Running, to compete at the Avon Global Championship.

All of the events will culminate with the annual the Avon Running Global Women's Championship, a $50,000 race that is the richest prize money 10 km race in the history of women's road running. The the Avon Running Global Women's Championship will be held for the first time in 1999 at a major international city yet to be determined.

To promote grassroots development in the United States, Avon has created a point system and applied it to each U.S. race so that runners who place well, but don't win, can still accumulate points in order to qualify for a trip to a major Avon championship event.

Avon Products, Inc. is the world's leading direct seller of beauty and related products with $4.8 billion in annual revenues. Avon markets to women in some 31 countries through 2.3 million independent sale representatives. Avon product lines include such recognizable brands as Anew, Skin-So-Soft, Avon Color, Far Away, Rare Gold, Natori and Millennia. Avon is also one of the world's largest manufacturers of fashion jewelry and markets an extensive line of apparel, gifts and collectibles. The company employs approximately 34,000 people worldwide.

RUNNING GREATS IN ATTENDANCE

Kathrine Switzer

"Avon's financial backing and worldwide reach were a major reason the women's marathon became an official event in the Olympic Games," said Kathrine Switzer, the program director of Avon Running, original creator of the circuit and the woman who broke the gender barrier at the Boston Marathon in 1967. "Now that the distance events for women are in the Games, we want to give women the avenues to get there, and at the same time take running and walking to women who never before had the opportunity." "Avon's early commitment to women's running and the marathon helped pave the way for me, and other women, to the first Olympic Women's Marathon," said Joan Benoit Samuelson, Gold Medalist in the inaugural 1984 Olympic Women's Marathon and current U.S. record holder. "Avon's desire to continue with its running sponsorship will undoubtedly help the next generation of female runners, just as it helped me."

Jackie Joyner-Kersee

In attendance at the Avon launch were Jackie Joyner-Kersee, three-time Olympic Gold Medalist and widely regarded as the "world's greatest female athlete; Samuelson, who ran the Avon International Marathon in both 1980 and 1981, and three-time Avon Champion Lorraine Moller from New Zealand who also won the Bronze Medal in the 1992 Olympic Marathon. Other champion runners included Olympic Silver Medalist and nine-time New York City Marathon champion, Grete Waitz, from Norway; Russian Valentina Yegorova, who won the Gold and Silver Medals in the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Marathons, and her fierce rival in both of those races, Yuko Arimori, from Japan who took Silver and Bronze behind Yegorova.

Valentina Yegorova

Other notables attending the press conference included past Avon Marathon Champions: English Olympian Joyce Smith; former UCLA great and two-time Olympian Julie Brown, and Martha Cooksey and Nancy Conz, formerly nationally ranked Americans; 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter American record-holder and Olympic Bronze Medalist Lynn Jennings, who represented the United States; and Cheryl Collins, a young prospect who led the American women's team at the IAAF World Championships Marathon in Athens, Greece, a few weeks ago.

"We're all delighted about Avon's support for women's running," said Lynn Jennings. "The Avon circuit will provide American women with another opportunity to compete and improve their performance."