FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
International City Racing (ICR) Changes Branding/Name to "RUN Racing™"
Company expands team as running events grow in popularity
LONG BEACH, CA – RUN Racing™ is the "Brand" new name for the Long Beach
based company previously known as International City Racing (ICR). The
change was made to reinforce their core mission and to simplify the brand
stacking when integrated with the events they both own and manage.
Originally founded in 2001, RUN Racing (ICR) acquired its first property –
the "Long Beach International City Bank Marathon" that same year. They
have subsequently grown that event from 4,500 in 2001 to over 22,000 in
2009. In 2009, Long Beach was ranked 10th nationally in finishers by
Running USA as compared to other combined Marathon & Half Marathon events
in the US. The company continues to grow and flourish despite the
challenging economic times.
"Changing to RUN Racing just made sense," said CEO, Bob Seagren. "We
produce events that host more than 50,000 runners a year in Southern
California, and we wanted to simplify messaging to our customers. People
often tripped over saying our company name – especially when used as an
acronym (ICR). We strive to provide a top quality running experience and
wanted to build stronger name recognition and personality around the
company."
"There are a number of great reasons for the change," added Ex. VP
Marketing, John Parks. "Several of our event web domains start with "run"
as in www.RunLongBeach.com for the Long Beach International City Bank
Marathon; or www.RunLACounty.com for the LA County Holiday Half Marathon.
Our new name virtually becomes a headline or tagline as we brand stack with
the various properties," said Parks.
RUN Racing also continues to expand as running has become a national
phenomenon. Marathons saw a 10% increase in participation in 2009 with over
467,000 finishers nationally. Half Marathon participation has grown by over
10% a year for the last three years. RUN Racing currently employs a full
time staff of 9 including three new hires Danica Kooiman (Marketing
Coordinator), Brian Hrybyk (Expo, Charity and Volunteer Coordinator) and
Linda Vu (Controller). Additionally, Bart Davis was promoted to Vice
President, Race Operations.
Danica Kooiman has been running for the past ten years and has completed
all different types of distance races including the 5k, 10k, half marathon
and marathon. She previously worked at a digital advertising agency "The
Aura Group" and comes to RUN Racing to work on social networking,
marketing, and event management. She started a running blog a year and a
half ago and has had continued success growing her audience and receives
around 15,000 visitors monthly to her blog. She loves writing and is
excited to work at RUN Racing and develop their blog and social network
outlets there. Find her blog at http://www.chicrunner.com. Currently
training for the Camarillo Marathon in October and recently accepted to
work on her MFA in Creative Writing, she is always on the go. While her
favorite marathon is Long Beach for the great race memories she had, she
also loved running the entire Malibu Marathon in a hot pink tutu.
Massachusetts native, Brian Hrybyk, is also an avid runner. He came to
Southern California to attend graduate school at Loyola Marymount
University and just completed his post-graduate degree in Entrepreneurial
Studies. Brian was a competitive soccer player, but had to give up the
game after a career ending knee injury and surgery. To stay in shape and
to keep healthy, Brian took up running and it has become his new passion
ever since. He has completed over 20 half marathon and marathon events and
will be running his third consecutive Boston Marathon this April to raise
funds for Children’s Hospital Boston.
Serving as a catalyst for her new career as Controller of RUN Racing, Lynda
Vu first discovered her love for running in high school cross country. Her
academic background is in Accountancy at California State University,
Fullerton and she has worked as an accountant in various industries,
including nonprofit and fashion/design. Lynda is currently working towards
obtaining a Certified Managerial Accountant certificate, to help RUN Racing
improve business performance.
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