FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
INAUGURAL ONWARD SHAY! BOISE MARATHON SET FOR OCTOBER 30, 2016
Race to Honor Late Boise Runner Shay Hirsch
BOISE, October 22, 2015 - The inaugural Onward Shay! Boise Marathon will be
held in Boise, Idaho, on Sunday, October 30, 2016, race organizers Betsy
Luce and Janine Bastian announced today. The new marathon will be Boston
and Olympic trials certified.
The race will be held in honor of Shay Hirsch, late wife of George A.
Hirsch, the former publisher of Runner's World magazine and current
Chairman of the Board of New York Road Runners, organizers of the TCS New
York City Marathon. Shay, a life-long runner and marathoner, grew up in
Boise.
"Shay's Boise friends meant the world to her," said Hirsch. "There
couldn't be a more fitting tribute than to have this marathon in her honor
in the city she loved. On behalf of the New York Road Runners, we are
delighted to be part of it."
Race organizers plan to cap the race at 5,000 runners. They say the course
will be flat, fast and scenic, taking racers through downtown Boise, into
an historic neighborhood, and onto the Greenbelt along the river.
The weather in Boise in late October is usually ideal for running -- cool,
sunny and dry, with an average temperature of 58 degrees on October 30.
The race will begin at noon to maximize conditions for runners and
opportunities for spectators.
In addition to the marathon and a half-marathon, there will be kids' races
and a Family Fitness Expo. Food vendors and top-notch entertainment are
expected throughout the weekend, and restaurants and breweries along the
route will be offering special deals for runners and their families.
The Onward Shay! Boise Marathon's Advisory Board is led by Hirsch and
features a host of legendary figures in running, including Frank Shorter,
Joan Benoit Samuelson, David Willey, Mary Wittenberg, Bart Yasso, Bill
Rodgers, Amby Burfoot and Jeff Galloway. The Board also includes prominent
Idaho athletes Nick Symmonds, Dick Fosbury, and Dick and Gabrielle
Anderson. Advisory Board members will host a free symposium on Saturday
and will anchor relay teams in the race.
"I was given a wonderful lifetime gift in getting to know Shay as an
authentic, energetic and giving friend," said Joan Benoit Samuelson,
Olympic gold medalist in the marathon and the first woman to win an Olympic
marathon. "She knew how to live life passionately and enthusiastically,
and her zest was contagious. It was always 'Onward' with Shay."
Shay was the daughter of Pat and Morley Nelson, the world-renowned
filmmaker and expert on birds of prey. She was a true Westerner-a hiker, a
skier and a nature lover, as well as a runner and a marathoner. Among her
many Boise running friends were her beloved "Mountain Goats," with whom she
stayed in touch throughout her life.
Shay battled multiple myeloma for eleven years. Even after two stem cell
transplants and numerous bouts of chemotherapy, she maintained an active
lifestyle and her trademark humor and optimism. She invariably ended her
very positive e-mail updates to friends and family with "Onward, Shay."
She died in 2014.
Boise sits in a valley in the foothills of the Northern Rockies. The
population of the metropolitan area is just over 650,000. Boise is known
as an outdoor city, popular with runners, mountain bikers, kayakers, fly
fishermen and hikers. One of their favorite routes is the 25-mile-long
Boise Greenbelt, which takes runners, cyclists and walkers through downtown
and several of the city's major parks, following the Boise River.
Another major attraction is the city's Foothills, which are crisscrossed by
hundreds of miles of running and mountain biking trails. The Boise River
itself offers a White Water Park and outstanding fishing right downtown.
Boise is 5 hours from Salt Lake City, 7 hours from Portland and 8 hours
from Seattle. It is served by five major airlines - Delta, United,
Southwest, Alaska and US Airways. The OSBM is expected to be a destination
event with runners coming from the entire Northwest and beyond.
Entry forms will be available on October 23, 2015, at www.onwardshay.com
and in local running and sporting goods stores. Runners are advised to get
their entries in early as numbers are capped and hotel space is limited.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
George Hirsch, Chairman, OSBM Advisory Board, (917) 734 7515,
Betsy Luce, Executive Director, OSBM, (208) 863-8639,
Jan Bastian, President, OSBM, (208) 861-7237,
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