For thousands of avid runners, walkers, beginners and everyone in between, the New Jersey Marathon Festival at the Shore is one of the highlights of Spring.  With a full marathon, half-marathon, half-marathon relay, three-mile fun run/walk, kids race, Kids and Family Events, plus world-class courses designed for speed, great area restaurants and attractions, and amazing oceanfront scenery, May 4-6 are circled on calendars all over the Garden State and beyond.

The centerpiece of the weekend is the New Jersey Marathon on Sunday, May 6, a full 26.2-mile race which begins at Monmouth Park in Oceanport and meanders through eight beautiful New Jersey shore towns, including Monmouth Beach, Deal, Allenhurst, Lock Aurbor, Asbury Park and Ocean Grove before reaching the finish line on the Long Branch Promenade (north of Pier Village and the Ocean Place Resort & Spa).  The USAT&F certified Full Marathon will start at 8 a.m., and the first corral of the Half Marathon and Half Marathon Relay is scheduled to start at 6:50 a.m.

Registration for all events, course views, information about volunteering and sponsorship and details of the entire weekend of activities and more are available at the race Website at www.NJMarathon.org.

Beginning runners, walkers and athletes with disabilities are all invited to participate.  New Jersey Marathon also conducts a series of training runs and related events to help participants of all levels to prepare.

“Last year we had more than 11,000 runners and wheelchair athletes of all ages and we’re tracking even higher this year,” said Joe Gigas, race director.  “The New Jersey Marathon’s continuous single loop, flat, fast course is a big hit with runners, and the scenery can’t be beat.  Thousands will enjoy the many family activities, which include a free Expo on Friday and Saturday, and thousands more will line the streets to cheer on all the participants on Sunday.  It’s a whole weekend of fun and fitness for everyone.”

Oz Pearlman, a 28 year old professional magician from Manhattan, and Bronawyn O’Leary, 35, a teacher from Cliffwood Beach, N.J., set personal bests in winning the men’s and women’s divisions of the 15th New Jersey Marathon last year.  Pearlman ran a course record of 2:28.19 in winning the race for the second time (he won in 2008 as well), while O’Leary ran 3:02.22 to place first for the first time in her racing career. 

The New Jersey Marathon, in partnership with Move For Hunger, will be conducting a food drive during the Expo. There will be collection bins, and staff, available to collect your generous donations, and distribute them to the local food banks.  Move For Hunger is a non-profit organization that works with moving companies across the country to support the efforts of local food banks. Your donation will likely directly impact families right in your home town.

The New Jersey Marathon is administered by US Road Sports & Entertainment Group, which conducts road races nationwide, including the 13.1 Marathon® Series.

2012 New Jersey Marathon Festival at the Shore
Schedule of Events

Friday, May 4
1 p.m. - 8 p.m. Health & Fitness Expo, Monmouth Park, 175 Oceanport Ave., Oceanport, NJ 07757

Saturday, May 5 (Long Branch Oceanfront Promenade – North of Pier Village, Long Branch, NJ 07740)
8:30 a.m. - noon Family Running Events and Mini Fair- races include:
    8:30 a.m. 3-Mile “Fun” Run / Walk
    9 a.m. “Fun Bus” Fitness Fun on Wheels for Ages 2-8
    9:30 a.m. “Kids” 1.2-Mile Marathon
    10:30 a.m. Kids’ Races
9 a.m. - 6 p.m. Health & Fitness Expo, Monmouth Park, 175 Oceanport Ave., Oceanport, NJ 07757

Sunday, May 6
6:50 a.m.  Long Branch Half Marathon and Half-Marathon Relay wheelchair start, followed in waves by the rest of the field, Monmouth Park at 175 Oceanport Ave., Oceanport, NJ 07757.
8 a.m. The New Jersey Marathon wheelchair start, followed in waves by the rest of the field, Monmouth Park, 175 Oceanport Ave., Oceanport, NJ 07757.

When he was playing at his peak, many felt John McEnroe’s on court demeanor could be childlike. Even in his greatest moments, his intensity and passion would bubble over, questioning a referee glaring at a ball person, challenging a member of the media.

Now McEnroe is one of the most thoughtful speakers on the game he loves, and the only time “childlike” arises is when he is talking about the next generation of players of all skill levels, which he does often on the courts of the John McEnroe Tennis Academy at Sportime Randall’s Island in New York.

However this week McEnroe is a spokesperson for a different type of tennis event, the BNP Paribas Showdown which will take place Monday night at Madison Square Garden in New York, and on Wednesday, Johnny Mac held court to talk about the state of tennis and the kids he is trying to mold. The Wednesday event, a clinic featuring 40 kids from varied backgrounds who are part of the New York Junior Tennis League,  was a precursor to Monday’s self-described “Tennis Night In America,” which will culminate with Roger Federer taking on Andy Roddick, and  Maria Sharapova meeting Caroline Wozniacki at “World’s Most Famous Arena.”

It is really the combination of the bright lights buzz on Monday and the kids on the court Wednesday that McEnroe spoke to, both areas of which need some sprucing up, in his opinion, to bring tennis back on par to where it was. “There is no place like the Garden, and I think the players will have to bring their A Game to match the intensity of the crowd, even for an exhibition,” McEnroe said. “We need as a sport to market ourselves better, to raise the buzz level, to really elevate the game again.  The idea of we need ‘just American’ stars to raise the game doesn’t work, as we see the NBA and baseball with stars from all over the world. We need to educate the casual fan to see how great all the top players are, and hopefully events like Monday can help do that.”

As far as the American game, McEnroe is well aware of the decline of top stars, and is doing what he believes is the best answer to get more young people involved. “We need to get our share of good young athletes and then get them excited about playing tennis like they are about basketball or football,” he said. “I think one way is to do what we are doing here (at the Academy). Have a facility that is close to millions of available kids and then go find those kids, from Harlem or Queens or Brooklyn or New Jersey, and introduce them to the game. Out of that I think we will find the next wave of stars, but more importantly we will find more young people taking on tennis as a life sport, which is just as important.”

It is that mix of grassroots and bright lights that are coming together as the tennis season kicks off in the United States next week in New York, a combo which tennis’ strongest voice in the U.S. hopes will continue, with some guidance and prodding from himself and others like him (if there are any).

Relativity Media’s adrenaline-fueled Navy SEAL action-thriller Act of Valor, starring active-duty Navy SEALs, exceeded both internal and industry estimates when it took the No. 1 spot in America in its debut and raked in approximately $24.5 million, it was announced today by Kyle Davies, Relativity’s President, Worldwide Distribution. The Bandito Brothers’ Act of Valor released in 3,039 locations in North America on February 24th (Alliance Films handled distribution in Canada) and was produced and directed by former Baja 1000 champion Mike “Mouse” McCoy and former stuntman Scott Waugh. This marks Relativity’s third over-performing film to reach the No. 1 spot in its opening weekend in less than a year.  Both the paranoia-fueled action-thriller Limitless (March 2011) and the 3D epic action-adventure Immortals (November 2011) debuted first place at the box office—a milestone no other independent distributor had achieved last year.
 
Davies said, “Relativity believed in Act of Valor from the moment we saw the film and acquired the rights. We knew this movie had it all—a visceral and emotional movie-going experience that satisfies audiences— which certainly proved to be the case this weekend,” he added, “Hats off to the Bandito Brothers’ directors Mouse and Scott who delivered a breakthrough picture that worked on so many levels, across many audiences. Although the film’s great performance was primarily driven by males, our exit polls and ‘A’ CinemaScore indicate that females also loved the film. We hope to continue to grow the female audience through word-of-mouth. Its playability is sure to give the film legs for strong holdover weeks and a successful run.”
 
Relativity mounted a robust marketing and publicity campaign that executed a multi-pronged strategy toward reaching an audience of gamers, action fans, sports fans, ethnic audiences, country music fans, patriots, military, women, colleges, conservative and faith communities with a targeted focus on males, ages 18-54. Positive word-of-mouth became the cornerstone of the campaign. An extensive advance screening program was launched in over 40 markets (totaling more than 400 screenings) that began in Los Angeles and New York in October and expanded in the field through release. Exit polls also indicated very strong response across the board in both rating and recommend scores. The film earned an “A” CinemaScore rating and polls showed extremely high marks from both males and females of all ages and ethnic groups, even finding 91% of all females polled rated the film above average. Polls indicated the ethnic breakdown as follows: 63% Caucasian; 13% African-American; 10% Latino; 7% Asian and 7% Other.
 
Another tenet of the campaign was reinforcing the film’s authenticity message to audiences. In addition to prominently mentioning the film starred “active duty Navy SEALs,” advertising and publicity efforts reiterated that live ammunition were used in shooting training runs while filming. Relativity also partnered with highly-celebrated, best-selling author Tom Clancy on the film and with an accompanying novelization, “Tom Clancy Presents Act of Valor,” written by Dick Couch and George Galdorisi which was based on the film’s screenplay by Kurt Johnstad (300). Clancy’s name is a globally recognizable brand for not only his own military-thriller novels, but for non-fiction books, movies and video games. This was Clancy’s first time in presenting a novelization of a feature film not based on his own original work. Clancy’s long-time publisher Berkley Books released the novelization on paperback January 10th and is No. 4 on the New York Times best sellers list. Brilliance Audio released the audio version.
 
While the film played equally strong to both males and females, a conscious effort was placed on advertising directly to males in the television campaign, with a concentration on sports. The Bandito Brothers’ groundbreaking film had a presence during televised coverage of Super Bowl XLVI on February 5, 2012. Four 30-second unique Act of Valor commercials, featuring exclusive content, ran throughout the program including two spots that aired during the pre-game, one spot in game during the fourth quarter and one spot in the post-game show. The game received record viewership. Females were reached through an aggressive word-of-mouth screening program and via social media outreach. After advance promotional screenings, social media stations were set up in the lobbies to inspire online dialogue and audience members were deputized to prompt web conversation through peer-to-peer validation.
 
To further support the release of Act of Valor, some campaign highlights include digital initiatives that featured a partnership with Electronic Arts Battlefield 3: Back To Karkand, where fans eager for additional action could go to www.actofvalor.com/bf3.
 
to unlock free Battlefield 3™ dog tags for the Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system, and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system or PC. In addition, if you bought two or more tickets via Fandango.com, fans received a free Battlefield 3: Back To Karkand Map Pack for the Xbox 360® console. To engage the gaming audience, we partnered with top gaming site Machinima and invited military personnel to play Battlefield 3 with gaming influencers, the event was streamed live through Machinima’s YouTube channel. Additionally Relativity launched a digital integration with YouTube celebrities FPS Russia and Rated RR which received over 2.7 million views to date; and a YouTube campaign was also launched to allow people to salute real service members via www.youtube.com/actofvalorsalutes.

USA Basketball unveiled a new logo last week that will be worn by all of the USA Basketball teams including the men’s and women’s national teams as they pursue victory at the London Games this summer. The new logo combines iconic components from the past into a modern, simplified mark honoring the strong heritage and national pride represented by USA Basketball.

USA Basketball’s new logo incorporates the existing USA type into a badge-shaped mark which reflects the honor of playing for the United States of America’s national team. Also featured is a basketball, a nod to the original Amateur Basketball Association of the United States of America (ABAUSA), and a single star, symbolizing players from all over the country coming together as one team with a common goal.

“With this new logo we wanted to capture the history and character of USA Basketball while embracing the spirit of the current and future teams that will represent the United States of America,” said Jerry Colangelo, USA Basketball chairman and men’s national team managing director. “The mark of USA Basketball has become an iconic symbol of America’s game and of championship teams, and we are excited to bring it into the modern era.”

The new mark will be the third to represent the U.S. national basketball program. The original logo was used by ABAUSA and featured a red, white and blue basketball. The most recent logo, which was adopted in 1989 and has become synonymous with the 1992 Dream Team, will remain within the USA Basketball portfolio as a “heritage” mark, and will appear when milestones and anniversaries of past success are recognized.

The USA Basketball men’s and women’s national teams will wear new NIKE Hyper Elite uniforms during competition in 2012. Combining NIKE’s lightest, most technologically advanced textiles with iconic graphics, the Nike Hyper Elite basketball uniform helps boost players’ performance and communicates the pride of USA Basketball.

USA Basketball will tip-off preparations for this summer with the men’s national team training camp in Las Vegas from July 6–11 and an exhibition game against the Dominican Republic on July 12. The USA men’s and women’s national teams will then meet in Washington D.C. for a doubleheader against their Brazilian counterparts on July 16 at the Verizon Center. Both teams will next play in Manchester, England against Great Britain at Manchester Arena, with a women’s game on July 18 and a men’s game on July 19. The American men will conclude their tour in Barcelona, Spain, with a pair of exhibition games against Argentina, on July 22, and Spain, on July 24. The USA women will finish their tour at a four-team tournament in Istanbul, Turkey from July 21-24.

Six women plan to swim the English Channel in July, hoping to help a friend and neighbor and the thousands of people diagnosed with ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, by raising funds for research.

The relay team has partnered with Ann Arbor Active Against ALS ( A2A3 ) , which was formed by friends of a University of Michigan professor who was diagnosed with ALS in 2008. The swimmers are attempting a two-way crossing and hope to break the current world record of 18 hours and 59 minutes – just before the 2012 Olympic Games kick off in London.

Three of the six women are full-time moms, but all are former collegiate swimmers (one a water polo player) who were looking for a way to use their passion and talent to boost awareness of a disease with no treatment or cure.

“We’re all swimmers and enjoy a challenge. Swimming the Channel is the Mt. Everest of swimming,” says Amanda Mercer, one of the swimmers and an attorney with two children. “But the primary benefit is the chance to increase awareness of ALS and raise money for research. We hope crossing the Channel catches people’s attention and educates them about a horrific disease that will not be cured unless we find the money needed for research.”

The Channel crossing, from England to France and back, is in direct opposition to the devastating effects of ALS:

· Those diagnosed with ALS are eventually robbed of their ability to be active.
  These women will undertake an extremely challenging physical endeavor.

· An ALS diagnosis often leads to seclusion and isolation.
  This is a relay of six; they have each other to rely upon.

· Those diagnosed with ALS are given an average life expectancy of 2 to 5 years.
  Time is of the essence to find a cure, thus the goal is to break the world record.

The relay team consists of Mercer, Jenny Sutton Jalet, Melissa Karjala, Susan Butcher and Bethany Williston, all who live in Ann Arbor, and Emily Kreger who moved from Ann Arbor to pursue a General Surgery residency at the Detroit Medical Center.

Mercer, Jalet and Williston are moms. Mercer is an attorney; Jalet is the director of Premium Seating and Transportation in the athletic department at the University of Michigan, Williston is a part-time swim coach; Butcher is a high school athletic trainer, and Karjala is a research administrator at the University of Michigan and pursuing a master’s degree in education.

The women know first-hand the effects of ALS. Their friend and neighbor, Bob Schoeni, inspired the formation of A2A3. Schoeni is 47 years old and three years into his diagnosis. He continues to work at U-M’s Institute for Social Research , and also coaches his 14- and 12-year-old daughters. Schoeni says he’s in awe of the women’s efforts.

“It’s an amazing commitment. It gives me the energy I need to keep pushing on. This is an inspiring group of women,” Schoeni says.

Donations are being accepted at the relay team’s Web site. The donations will be used to support research efforts, not to cover the team’s travel costs. Supporters can also choose to virtually cross the Channel with the team, by pledging to swim the same distance (21 miles) or walk or run 73.5 miles (a swimming to running ratio) on their own. For $20, they are registered as participants and get a commemorative pin.

Also available is an ITunes application called Kento ALS. For $.99, with proceeds going to ALS research, you can download the game to your iPhone or iPad for a jigsaw picture puzzle challenge.

EAS Sports Nutrition, which helped pioneer the development of specialized nutrition products for athletes and fitness enthusiasts, is thanking its Facebook fans by offering them the chance to win a first-class baseball excursion: three days, two games and one amazing trip to watch Cactus League teams compete and train for the upcoming season.

On March 16 – 18, 2012, EAS will fly a winner and a friend to Phoenix, AZ to attend any two of the 25 Spring Training games being played that weekend.  Trip includes airfare, hotel, rental car and game tickets.

The New York Sportimes today retained two legendary former world No. 1 players in the 2012 World TeamTennis Marquee Player Draft, by protecting its rights to John McEnroe and Martina Hingis in rounds one and three, respectively.  McEnroe will return to the Sportimes for his 11th year as the team’s captain and Hingis will be back for her fourth and second consecutive year with the Sportimes.  For the second straight year, the NY Sportimes will play five matches at Sportime Randall’s Island, the 20-court club that is home to the John McEnroe Tennis Academy, and two matches at SEFCU Arena in Albany, N.Y.

The 2012 schedule for the WTT Pro League presented by GEICO (July 9-29) will be announced in March, and the remainder of the roster will be revealed following the WTT Roster Player Draft on March 13.  The top two teams from both the Western and Eastern Conference advance to the WTT Finals Weekend presented by GEICO, Sept. 14-16, at the Family Circle Tennis Center in Charleston, S.C.

Hingis returned to the Sportimes last year after having helped lead the team to the WTT Championship in 2005, then returning to the WTA Tour in early 2006. 

“John is our captain, and our leader here every day on Randall’s Island at the McEnroe Academy, and Martina lead us to a WTT title.  They both love to compete and to win, so I couldn’t be happier to have them both back for 2012,” said Sportime Clubs and NY Sportimes CEO Claude Okin.  “John and Martina will be supported by the best team of active tour players that we can draft next month, and the Sportimes are looking forward to making another run at the World TeamTennis Championship, while promoting the great, life-long sport of tennis to our returning fans and to new ones; especially to all the great young fans that cheer for us every year.”

Marquee players who are scheduled to compete against the Sportimes include Venus Williams (Washington Kastles) and John Isner (Boston Lobsters), both to play matches in Albany.  Marquee players typically play a limited schedule while roster players play the full season, but Martina Hingis played 12 matches for the Sportimes last season and is scheduled to play a minimum of 10 matches for the team this year.  Additional marquee players are expected to be announced prior to the start of the season.

The Sportimes finished one win out of first place in the Eastern Conference last year after winning the Eastern Conference title in 2010. 

2012 Sportimes’ partners include USTA Eastern Section, GEICO, USTA, Wilson„ DecoTurf, Principal Funds, SPORTIME Clubs, Tennis.com, Arizon Tennis Domes, NY Orthopedics, Randall’s Island Sports Foundation, MBR Metal Building Restoration, Zurita Architects, Lazer Aptheker Rosella & Yedid PC, Tamir Kfir, FAO Sport Management, Smart & Skinny, Fernando’s Limousine and Powerade Zero.

The stage is set for superstar quarterback Tim Tebow to deliver one of his clutch performances that will benefit young readers across the country. Tim has partnered with BOOK IT!, the reading incentive program sponsored by Pizza Hut, to host America’s Biggest Storytime, an annual celebrity webcast to motivate children to read more and to help develop a lifelong love of reading. Beginning Wednesday at 9 a.m. ET/8 a.m. CT, Tim will read his favorite childhood book, “Green Eggs and Ham” by Dr. Seuss. Children, parents, teachers and sports fans alike are encouraged to join the webcast at bookitprogram.com/biggeststorytime.

“It’s ‘Tebow Time’ for BOOK IT! and America’s Biggest Storytime,” said Chris Fuller, director of public affairs at Pizza Hut. “Similar to his drive and determination on the football field, Tim has shown a passion for reading and encouraging literacy among today’s youth. Tim’s personal connection to literacy, along with the mission of his foundation, makes him the perfect host of our 2012 webcast.”

As a “thank you” for Tim’s participation, BOOK IT! has made a donation to the Tim Tebow Foundation, which is dedicated to bringing faith, hope and love to those needing a brighter day in their darkest hour of need. The 2012 webcast looks to surpass last year’s record setting event that recorded more than 500,000 viewers.

How to Participate
Readers can join in by logging on to bookitprogram.com/biggeststorytime on Feb. 15 starting at 8 a.m. CST. The webcast will be available online through Feb. 22.

There are plenty of movies in the “action” genre — but most of them require the viewer to check his/her sense of reality at the door.

Of course, there’s nothing inherently wrong with that; finding actors who could reproduce the kind of real-life action that is still breathtakingly entertaining is the big challenge.

Enter a different kind of action film, one whose stars are those real-life heroes.  The work of Navy SEALs has always been cloaked in a certain amount of secrecy — much of that by design.  Act of Valor, in theaters nationwide beginning Feb. 24, stars a group of active-duty SEALs in a fictionalized account of real life Navy SEAL operations.

Directors Scott Waugh and Mouse McCoy took a few minutes recently to talk about this groundbreaking work.

TheUltimateFan: In the film, one of the guys talks about being a Muay Thai fighter, which is part of MMA and has a big place in military training. Have you guys worked on MMA projects and what do you think of the sport and what the UFC has done?

McCoy: We think MMA is fantastic—we love it. It was great to work with Navy SEALS in the movie, but unfortunately we haven’t had the opportunity to work with MMA, but we’re looking forward to doing so in the future. It is clear the ties in strategy and the MMA are strong, and we think anyone who is interested in the UFC or trains in the sport will really enjoy seeing the amazing action scenes in the film.

TUF: Many of your projects over the years have involved some pretty high-level athletes like Shaun White and Roger Federer among others. What is it like working with athletes vs. working with guys in the military. Neither are trained actors; is either group easier to work with in front of the camera than others?

Waugh: What is really great about working with pro athletes or Navy SEALS is that they are both very professional. The mindset and discipline in their vocations is inspirational. Our background is in documentary films, so we’re used to working with real people, to flying in with a Navy SEAL and film them being themselves. That’s what we say, be yourselves—we’re not asking them to play a character.
 
TUF: You have worked with a wide variety of athletes, from big names in the NFL to NASCAR drivers. Any one or two stories about athletes that you want to pass on?

McCoy: When we had the opportunity to work with the Pro Bowl guys; Clay Matthews, Jared Allen, Larry Fitzgerald and Drew Brees, we put them in a live operation for the Battlefield 3 video game. It was live ops training for 12 hours, and they had no idea they were going to do it. It was really fascinating to watch these men who are so incredible, who have earned so many accolades, put themselves in the special ops world. It was a whole other level of operation, non-stop, not stop-and-start play; it’s a continuous 30 minute fight. It’s interesting to hear them talk about the Navy SEALS; they have so much admiration for them.

TUF: “Act of Valor” is obviously a guys movie. How intense was the action, were there points when you thought it had gone too far?

Waugh: We were really just trying to honestly communicate what these guys do for a living. It was their operational planning—legitimate in how it goes on. The human heartfelt story within the action really comes out in the film.

TUF: The SEALS are obviously in great shape. Were there any particular routines or special training they had to do to get camera ready? Did they all have their own workout routine? Anything interesting come to mind?

McCoy: They were just being themselves, exactly what they do. We’re proud that we used real guys and will let the world see how they operate. It’s like working with the New York Giants on a football movie. The American public is ready for this dose of reality. The NFL does well because it’s real players, not actors playing football. What is fascinating about the SEALs is that they train at this level every single day so they are ready for any fight at any time. They train for life.

TUF: We are seeing more and more the gaming world intersect with sports and celebrities and you guys have worked in the gaming world a bit. How much more do you think that cross-over from gaming into movies and into reality is going to go in the next few years?

Waugh: For us, we want to make sure for those watching the film that it is true, not a video game. You can’t just press restart. We’re adamant about it not coming across as a video game, though it may seem like the viewer is immersed as if in first-person combat.

TUF: What’s the next project? Are there any athletes, storylines you would like to plan out going forward for a new project?

McCoy: We are committed to this type of new authentic action films, heartfelt stories immersed in action. We are bringing back the real action films, which slowly died out in the 80s and 90s.  We are getting away from the CG world—everything is on camera, all of the action.