On November 2, New York City Sports Commissioner Kenneth J. Podziba and New York City Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe will welcome the ING New York City Marathon. This year, more than 39,000 runners are expected to toe the starting line in Staten Island, making it the largest marathon in the world.

The ING New York City Marathon will generate more than $220 million in economic impact - the largest economic impact of any single-day sporting event in New York City. An estimated two million spectators will watch the event from the streets, while a worldwide audience of over 315 million is expected to view the televised broadcast. In addition, the New York Road Runners Foundation's "Team for Kids" is expected to achieve its goal of raising $3.5 million for children's running programs. The marathon's collective charity fundraising goal for all beneficiaries is $13 million.

"In addition to the remarkable economic impact generated by the ING New York City Marathon, this event will showcase the true spirit of our city as more than 2 million enthusiastic spectators line the course throughout the five boroughs to support participants from more than 100 countries throughout the world," said Commissioner Podziba. "The growth that the ING New York City Marathon has experienced, with more than 100,000 applicants vying for only 39,000 spots, is truly remarkable and a testament to the popularity that this prestigious road race has attained since its inception in 1970."

"Events like the ING NYC Marathon prove that New York City's parks are the perfect place to set goals and break records," said Commissioner Benepe. "We are proud to be part of the race, especially the finish line, and I wish all the runners, whether elite or first-time marathoners, the best of luck this weekend!"

The 2008 ING New York City Marathon will feature an impressive field of professional runners that will include 21 Olympians, six Olympic medalists, 10 World Championship individual medalists and 13 current and former World Marathon Majors race champions. On the men's side, past winners who will be participating in this year's race include Marlison Gomes dos Santos (2006), Paul Tergat (2005) and Hendrick Ramaala (2004). In the women's race, past winners expected to participate include Paula Radcliffe (2004 & 2007) and Ludmila Petrova (2000).

"All of us at the New York Road Runners, some 120 strong, feel especially proud to bring the city of New York the greatest weekend in marathon history with the arrival of our signature event," said President, CEO and race director of New York Road Runners, Mary Wittenberg. "We are at the highest height of distance running to date and we're on our way up."

The 2008 ING NYC Marathon will feature a prize purse of more than $600,000, with the men's and women's champions each receiving $130,000. New York City is the last stop in the World Marathon Majors (WMM) series which kicked off in April with the running of the Boston Marathon and also includes the London, Berlin and Chicago Marathons. The series showcases the sport's top athletes and awards a prize purse of $1 million to be divided between the male and female point leaders at the end of the series (determined by finishing times at each of the five races).

The ING New York City Marathon will officially begin at 7:30am with Avis' presentation of the Early Start for Athletes with Disabilities, which will be followed by the 8:35am start for the Wheelchair Division, also presented by Avis. The Handcycle Division will start at 8:55am with the Professional Women's Field kicking off at 9:10am, followed by the Foot Locker Five Borough Challenge at 9:15am.

New for this year's marathon is the introduction of wave starts. Three waves of approximately 13,000 runners will be released in 20 minute increments beginning at 9:40am. The first wave will include the Professional Men's field as well as the Open Field. The two subsequent waves, starting at 10:00am and 10:20am, will include the remainder of the Open Field entrants.

The ING NYC Marathon's wheelchair and handcycle divisions, officially introduced in the 2000 race, will once again feature a tough field of competitors. In this year's professional wheelchair field, five former ING New York City Marathon champions headline a stellar field. On the men's side, two-time defending champion and current course-record holder (1:29:22) Kurt Fearnley (Australia), 2002 and 2003 winner Krige Schabort (South Africa), and 2000 winner Kamel Ayari (USA) will battle it out for the title. The women's field includes three-time winner, defending champion (2004, '05, '07) and course record-holder (1:52:38) Edith Hunkeler (Switzerland) as well as 2006 champion Amanda McGrory (USA), who leads the University of Illinois's wheelchair team. Fearnley and Hunkeler also recently won gold medals in the marathon at the Paralympic Games in Beijing, China.

For more information about the ING New York City Marathon, please visit www.ingnycmarathon.org.

New York Road Runners, celebrating its 50th anniversary, is dedicated to promoting the sport of distance running, enhancing health and fitness for all, and responding to community needs. Our road races and other fitness programs draw upwards of 300,000 runners annually, and together with our magazine and website support and promote professional and recreational running. A staff of more than 100, assisted by thousands of volunteers, stages the ING New York City Marathon, as well as a road race nearly every weekend plus many track and cross country events. NYRR's home base in New York, and its lifelong identification with Central Park, have given many of its events iconic status, attracting the world's top professional runners. Our youth programs provide running to 50,000 schoolchildren in New York City and around the country who would otherwise have few or no fitness opportunities. For more information, visit www.nyrr.org.

Parks & Recreation is the steward of more than 29,000 acres of land - 14 percent of New York City - including more than 4,000 individual properties ranging from Yankee Stadium and Central Park to community gardens and Greenstreets. We operate more than 800 athletic fields and nearly 1,000 playgrounds; we manage five major stadia, 550 tennis courts, 54 public pools, 51 recreational facilities, 15 nature centers, 13 golf courses, and 14 miles of beaches; we care for 1,200 monuments and 22 historic house museums; we look after 600,000 street trees, and two million more in parks. We are New York City's principal provider of athletic facilities. We are home to free concerts, world-class sports events, and cultural festivals. For more information about Parks, visit our Web site: www.nyc.gov/parks.

The New York City Sports Commission is the mayoral agency charged with attracting, facilitating and promoting professional, amateur and scholastic sports events in New York City. The Sports Commission has played an integral role in creating or developing many new sporting events, including the NFL Kickoff Live from Times Square, NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series™ Champions Week, the BMC Software NYC Cycling Championship, the AVP Brooklyn Open, the NAUTICA NYC Triathlon, the NYC Half-Marathon, the Union Square Street Sessions presented by Jeep®, the Wild Onion Urban Adventure Race, and the Men's Health Urbanathlon.