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Easter Island Marathon Explores Growth
EASTER ISLAND, CHILE (December 27, 2002) - With a successful inaugural race under its belt, the Easter Island Marathon is actively seeking runners far outside its 63-square-mile island for its 2003 edition announced race officials today. The second annual Easter Island Marathon, half-marathon and 10K is scheduled for June 7, 2003.
Posted Friday, 27 December, 2002
Contact: Thom Gilligan (617) 242-7845
Patrice Malloy (760) 635-2833
"We had a strong response from the islanders and mainland Chile in our inaugural year," said Race Director Rodrigo Salas. "Now we are ready to welcome runners from around the world." Around the world they will come but never in large numbers. Due to limited hotel accommodations on the tiny island, the event must cap its entries at 150. Fifty entries have been reserved specifically for North American runners for the 2003 event.
"This is definitely a niche market marathon," explained Thom Gilligan, president of Marathon Tours and Travel, the event's official North American travel agency. "Runners will travel to the Easter Island Marathon primarily to experience the adventure of running in a mysterious remote destination, not to be part of a large crowd."
Situated in the South Pacific Ocean between Chile and Tahiti, Easter Island is located more than 2,000 miles from the nearest population center and is one of the most isolated inhabited islands in the world. The island is primarily known for its mysterious 800-plus stone statues or "Moai," which punctuate the landscape and outnumber the race participants by more than five to one. On average the stoic Moai stand 13 feet high and weigh 14 tons. The statues' human-like heads featuring heavy foreheads are carved from rough hardened volcanic ash. Although the statues abound, nobody really knows how or why the massive Moai were built or how they were transported to their various perches around the island. The marathon's semi-flat course winds by many of the island's fixated Moai.
For more information about the Easter Island Marathon, call Marathon Tours and Travel at 1-800-444-4097 or log on to www.marathontours.com.
Marathon Tours and Travel is the leading marathon tour operator in the U.S. and offers comprehensive travel packages to marathons worldwide including the Antarctica Marathon and the Safaricom Marathon in Kenya, the only marathon run entirely within a game park.
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