Press Release - Mardi Gras Marathon - 9/22/05

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                         Contact: Bill Burke 
                                                  Premier Event Management
                                                  (504) 454-6561
                                                  (504) 628-3155 
                                                  

     2006 Mardi Gras Marathon - "Back in the Big Easy" - February 5
        41st Edition to Benefit the New Orleans Police Department


In an unprecedented move to assist with the restoration and rebuilding of 
homes lost by members of the New Orleans Police Department during Hurricane 
Katrina, the 41st running of the Mardi Gras Marathon and Half Marathon will 
donate all net proceeds to a special NOPD Building Fund. This fund will 
assist officers from the New Orleans Police Department to rebuild their 
lives and their homes in the city that they fought to protect and serve.

The event scheduled for Sunday, February 5, 2006 will be the first major 
sporting event back in the Big Easy since Hurricane Katrina brought the 
Crescent City to its knees on that dark Monday morning in August.

Premier Event Management, the marathon's production team as well as the New 
Orleans Track Club, owners of the Mardi Gras Marathon are excited about 
this opportunity to give something back to an organization that gave so 
much during the Katrina Disaster. 

"Like post-9/11 New York City, the City of New Orleans will also need the 
added tourism and marketing value that events like this can bring to the 
Crescent City," said Bill Burke race director for the 2006 event. 

Runners and walkers can register now and get up to the minute information 
on the 2006 event on the official Mardi Gras Marathon website at: 
MardiGrasMarathon.com



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