The Booz Allen Marathon Team is raising money for former Austin resident Justin Whitehead and his fight against ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, commonly known as "Lou Gehrig's disease"). Although ALS is a relatively rare--affecting 2 of every 100,000 people--it generally end tragically with a average survival rate of just 2 to 5 years. Justin was diagnosed nearly 3 years ago and is still bravely fighting ALS. Although he is no longer able to walk, he still attempts to "get out" as much as possible with his wife, friends, and family. To encourage his fight, several of Justin's friends founded Team Justin, a nonprofit effort to raise general awareness and funds to combat ALS. Please visit www.teamjustin.com to learn more about the disease and how to help. Meredith Smith (smith_meredith@bah.com) from Booz Allen may be contacted if you have further questions.

USCAA Membership: All USCAA marathon runners that want to be scored for their teams need to be 2005 USCAA members before the start of the 2005 USCAA Marathon awards ceremony. You can join online at here. The online rate is $12 and the paper submission rate is $20. Please register early and online.

Discount Registration: When you register for the 2005 Freescale Austin Marathon, site of the 2005 USCAA National Marathon Championship, please use coupon code 05TRG. The rate will be $65 rather than $80 until January 23, 2005. This is a group discount rate code for USCAA runners.

Race Shuttle: The marathon will be running a shuttle in both directions throughout race day. The cost is $4. If you are staying at one of the USCAA designated hotels you will be a short walk from the start line. To get back to the start line after you finish, you could ride the shuttle. You can pay the $4 during on-line registration or at the expo.

Runners' Comments

Thanks and good running,
Chris Crawford
USCAA Marathon Planning Committee

Team Roster: USCAA Marathon teams are scored on an age-graded basis using the top four runners to compose the team's score. In fact, only four runners are required to form a USCAA team. I will need from each running team captain the name (exactly as it was listed on the marathon entry form), age, gender, and city/state of your team's runners by Tuesday February 8th. Please take an extra minute and verify the runners names are listed correctly in your e-mails as the runner's registered online (Bob rather than Robert, Beth versus Elizabeth). I score the race by matching names to extract the marathon times and incorrect names might leave someone out.

There will be a short team captain's meeting at the Hotel Austin Ballroom from 4:00--4:30pm on February 13. We will review the preliminary results to make sure all your runners have been accounted for and their times are correct.

Hotels: One of our original hotel choices, the Hawthorn Suites in Austin, has been sold. Not to leave you without choices, we have arranged for USCAA group rates at the Bradford HomeSuites as well as the Holiday Inn. The Bradford is an extended stay hotel, close to the marathon start line, and offers rooms from $89 to $109 per night (USCAA group rate plus tax). The Hotel Austin (Holiday Inn) offers a luxurious standard-style guest room at just $69 per night (plus tax). At both hotels, please call the number listed and ask for the USCAA marathon runner's rate.

The start line for the marathon is at approximately 9701 Stonelake Boulevard in Austin. You can use this address to gauge short walk from either the Bradford HomeSuites or the Hotel Austin.

Bradford HomeSuites Austin Northwest
(512) 342-8080
10001 N Capital of Texas Hwy, Austin, TX 78759
www.bradfordsuites.com

The Hotel Austin (Holiday Inn)
(512) 343-0888
8901 Business Park Plaza, Austin, TX 78759
www.hotelaustin.com

---

Hawthorn Suites Austin Northwest has been sold, so is no longer available to us for the marathon. The Hawthorn Suites transferred the rooms that people had reserved with them to the Holiday Inn.

To reserve your rooms, contact:

Holiday Inn (512) 343-0888 8901 Business Park Plaza Austin, TX 78759 www.HotelAustin.com

The awards ceremony will be in the ballroom of the Hotel Austin (Holiday Inn) 8901 Business Park Drive, Austin, TX 512-343-0888 from 5:00 to 6:00pm on February 13.

The awards ceremony will be at the

Holiday Inn (Hotel Austin)
8901 Business Park Drive
Austin, TX 78759
512-343-0888
5:00 to 6:00pm
February 13, 2004