2009 Boston Marathon On Universal Sports

2009 BOSTON MARATHON ON UNIVERSAL SPORTS

Live TV and Global Online Coverage of the 113th Boston Marathon begins Monday at 9:30 a.m. ET

Universal Sports is Home to World Marathon Majors: Boston Marathon, London Marathon, Berlin Marathon, Chicago Marathon, New York City Marathon

LOS ANGELES – April 15, 2009 – Course record holder Robert K. Cheruiyot, looking to become the first person to ‘four-peat,’ and Kara Goucher, the American favorite to win the women’s race, are among the 25,000 runners as Universal Sports presents LIVE TV and online coverage of the historic Boston Marathon, the world’s oldest annual marathon, on Patriot’s Day, Monday at 9:30 a.m. ET. Emmy Award-winning announcers Al Trautwig and Larry Rowson will provide commentary of the Boston Marathon for Universal Sports.

Universal Sports is the broadcast home to the World Marathon Majors (WMM) which include the Boston Marathon, London Marathon, Berlin Marathon, Chicago Marathon, and will conclude with the New York City Marathon in November.
In addition to broadcasting the WMM, Universal Sports will also provide coverage of the Los Angeles, Stockholm, and Beijing Marathons, starting at the end of May.

COVERAGE ON UNIVERSAL SPORTS: Universal Sports, available in 45 million homes, will present live and same-day coverage of the World Marathon Majors.
Date Events Time (all times ET)
Apr. 20 BOSTON MARATHON (live) 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Apr. 26 LONDON MARATHON 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Sept. 20 BERLIN MARATHON TBA
Oct. 11 CHICAGO MARATHON TBA

Nov. 2 NEW YORK MARATHON TBA

COVERAGE ON UNIVERSALSPORTS.COM: UniversalSports.com will provide exclusive, live coverage of the World Marathon Majors. More information, as well as highlights, full-length videos, photos, breaking news and more available at UniversalSports.com/marathon.

Date Events Time (all times ET)

Apr. 20 BOSTON MARATHON (live) 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Apr. 26 LONDON MARATHON (live) 4 – 7:10 a.m.

Sept. 20 BERLIN MARATHON TBA
Oct. 11 CHICAGO MARATHON TBA

Nov. 2 NEW YORK MARATHON TBA

WORLD MARATHON MAJORS ON UNIVERSAL SPORTS: Universal Sports will be broadcasting coverage of the full World Marathon Majors season for the second year in a row, showing continued support for the sport of track and field. The World Marathon Majors first began in 2006 with an attempt to increase interest in running, raise awareness of marathon athletes, and advance the sport of marathon running.

The World Marathon Majors is made up of the top male and female marathon runners in the world who will split a $1 million dollar prize between them. Collectively, there are over 5 million live spectators at the World Marathon Majors and 250 million television views. Over 300,000 people apply to run in the marathon and approximately half as many participate. The World Marathon Majors also raise over $80 million for charity.

BOSTON MARATHON: The Boston Marathon is one of the most difficult in the World Marathon Majors series because of the numerous hills throughout the course. The Boston marathon draws approximately 500,000 spectators every year. Robert K. Cheruiyot, who has won the last three Boston Marathons, a total of four and set the course record in 2006 looks to defend his title at the 2009 competition.

KARA GOUCHER: Coming off of a strong collegiate career, Goucher made her marathon debut in the 2008 New York City marathon, where she set the record for fastest time by an American female in her first marathon. Goucher finished in third place with a time of 2:25:53, marking this the first time that an American woman placed in the top three in the New York City Marathon in 14 years. This will be Goucher’s first time running the Boston Marathon.

ABOUT UNIVERSAL SPORTS: Universal Sports, a partnership between NBC Sports and InterMedia Partners, serves as the preeminent multiplatform destination for Olympic-related and lifestyle sports programming available on television and online. Universal Sports is a 24-hour television channel available in 45 million television households in markets including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., San Diego, San Francisco, Denver, Seattle, Las Vegas, Indianapolis, Reno and Omaha. Major world championship and Olympic qualifying events found on Universal Sports range from track and field, skiing, swimming, gymnastics, marathons and cycling, to volleyball, rowing, triathlon, fencing, speed skating and martial arts. UniversalSports.com delivers an immersive experience via live and on-demand competition coverage, interaction with top athletes through blogs and in-depth access to Olympic sports news and information year round. For more information on the availability of the Universal Sports 24-hour television channel, please visit UniversalSports.com

# # #