From the "we should have seen this one coming from a mile away" file, the newly acquired Denver Marathon will soon be the Denver "Rock 'N' Roll" marathon.
It was just about two weeks ago that the Competitor Group announced the acquisition of the Denver Marathon and now they plan to transform it into the Denver Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in 2010.
According to the Denver Post Peter Englehart, president and chief executive of the Competitor Group said, "We studied the Denver market and that had a lot of appeal for us as a growth opportunity,"
The Competitor Group owns the "Rock 'N' Roll" marathon series of races including the San Diego Rock 'N' Roll Marathon, the Phoenix Rock 'N' Roll Marathon as well as the Country Music Marathon in Nashville.
"Timing-wise it worked well with our schedule of rolling out some additional national events,"
Englehart added.
In a press release dated January 12, 2009 Englehart said, “adding the Denver Marathon and
Rocky Mountain Half to the Competitor Group’s event portfolio was an
ideal situation allowing the current leadership to remain involved. The deal represents an enormous
opportunity for expansion. We are excited to work with the Denver
community and the thousands of runners who have come to expect us to
deliver the best race experience possible.”
Executive Director Anton Villatoro will remain in charge of the marathon.
The "Rock 'N' Roll" marathons feature dozens of bands along the race course which inspire and entertain the runners. The 2009 race is set for Sunday, October 19th but according to Englehart the marathon won't feature the "Rock 'N' Roll" bands until 2010.