FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
KENNERLY FORMS K2 SPORTS, ACQUIRES PALM BEACHES MARATHON
FROM CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Honda Classic Executive Director Commits To Growth Of Annual Endurance Race
K2 Sports Ventures, a new event and consulting firm recently established by
Honda Classic Executive Director Kenneth R. Kennerly, has acquired
ownership of the former Eau Palm Beach Marathon & Run Fest from the Chamber
of Commerce of the Palm Beaches and will revive the traditional event in
December 2017.
The race will be renamed the Palm Beaches Marathon, but will still include
the traditional Half Marathon and 5K races. It will be held December 1-3,
2017.
Kennerly has partnered with sports event veteran John Mathews of Sunshine
State Races to produce the race. Mathews has 30 years of experience in
sports marketing and has been staging distance races for more than a decade
including the Amica Ironman 70.3 and United Healthcare Marathon in Rhode
Island, the Turning Stone Races in New York and the Fort Myers Marathon
each November on the Southwest coast of Florida.
"I have always admired The Palm Beaches Marathon and visualized it through
the years as an event that could grow to become a prominent fixture in this
community, much in the way that the Honda Classic has evolved," Kennerly
said. "We have assembled a great team with enormous energy, local knowledge
and vision to take this race to new heights and make Palm Beach County an
International running destination each December."
Kennerly, who has guided the Honda Classic's rise as an elite PGA TOUR
event since taking over management of the tournament in 2007, will continue
in his role as the Executive Director of The Honda in addition to owning
the Marathon.
"I want to thank the board of Children's Healthcare Charity for supporting
my expansion into other event marketing activities," Kennerly said. "Palm
Beach County is one of the greatest communities in the country and I hope
to create the same magic with the Palm Beaches Marathon that we have been
able to sustain with The Honda Classic."
Race founder Iva Grady, who presided over the event for its first nine
years from 2004-2012, will return as a Race Consultant to Kennerly and
Mathews. Grady has been a runner for 46 years. She was running the New York
Marathon in the mid-1990s when the idea crossed her mind of how wonderful
it would be if she had a Marathon to run back home in Palm Beach County
where the weather was nicer and the views so much prettier. The Chamber of
Commerce of the Palm Beaches hired her in 2004 to start the race.
"As the founder of the Marathon of the Palm Beaches and being an active
runner, I am extremely happy that Ken Kennerly and his company K2 Sports
Ventures will be the new owners of the Palm Beaches Marathon," she said.
"Their leadership and experience will benefit runners throughout Florida."
The Chamber sold the event to US Road Sports in 2012, which was then
acquired by Life Time Fitness. Life Time returned the Marathon to the
Chamber this year so that the Chamber could find local ownership to focus
on its production and growth on a year-round basis. A 5K produced by the
Chamber December 2 served as a placeholder in 2016.
"The Chamber is excited to sell the Palm Beaches Marathon to a very capable
local organization headed by sports marketing executive Ken Kennerly," said
Dennis Grady, President of the Palm Beach Chamber. "The local perspective
and expertise that Ken's company, K2 Sports Ventures, possesses will help
this race become one of the most desirable marathons in Florida.
"Ken has developed a national reputation for his accomplishments in
establishing The Honda Classic as one of the premier golf tournaments in
America. This experience combined with the fact that he is a local business
leader will serve the Palm Beaches Marathon well."
Mathews is excited to innovate and take advantage of the picturesque
setting that the water views along Flagler Drive provide to participants.
"Runners are going to love the Palm Beaches Marathon race routes," Mathews
said. "They will be flat, fast and beautiful with water views almost the
entire way. We can't wait to instill some new elements to the event and the
overall race experience."
Kennerly is known locally and nationally for his monstrous success with The
Honda Classic, but he also has more than 28 years experience in the sports
marketing industry with successful tenures with ProServ, Inc., Advantage
International, Inc, Golden Bear International, IGP Sports & Entertainment
Group, and IMG. He has been instrumental in the production of numerous
professional and amateur tournaments and has specialized in corporate
strategic consulting, sporting hospitality programs, and the representation
of several top ranked professional golf athletes and media personalities.
Kennerly, who has lived in Jupiter since 1993, is an active member on
multiple South Florida Boards including the Palm Beach County Sports
Commission, Palm Beach North Chamber of Commerce, Discover The Palm
Beaches, The First Tee of the Palm Beaches, South Florida PGA Section, Palm
Beach Gardens Police Foundation, and the American Junior Golf Association
Foundation, as well as a former Board member of The Benjamin School in
North Palm Beach.
For more information on the Palm Beaches Marathon, visit
palmbeachesmarathon.com.
Early bird registration is open at $80 for the Marathon, $60 for the Half
Marathon and $25 for the 5K.
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