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Contact: Greg Creese, 407.423.2476

Saturday’s OUC Half Marathon and 5K Kicked Off by Dyer
Orlando mayor to fire starters gun, then run;
Local flavor of the race impressive

ORLANDO, Fla.– The OUC Half Marathon and 5K embarks on its 32nd year this Saturday at 7:00 a.m. at Lake Eola Park, and it will do so with Orlando’s mayor leading the way at the starting line as well as the finish.

Buddy Dyer, 32nd mayor of The City Beautiful, will fire the starter’s gun in this year’s race, then take off with the pack of over 3,200 runners in this year’s 13.1-mile half marathon. Mayor of Orlando since 2003, Dyer was re-elected for a second term in 2008.

“The OUC Half Marathon is a great opportunity for the community to enjoy beautiful Downtown Orlando, get exercise and support a great cause – the Florida Citrus Sports Foundation – all at the same time,” said Mayor Dyer.

Dyer is not the only participant of note in this year’s race however. Amongst those hitting the streets of Orlando this Saturday will be groups from Team Burnham for Medical Research of the Burnham Institute for Medical Research, as well as Girls on the Run, a group which works to combine wellness, health and self-esteem in 3rd- to 8th-grade girls.

Team Burnham for Medical Research – which Dyer will also be running with -- is a group put together by its parent institute which takes participants and trains them over the course of a few months to participate in a full-length marathon. Participants not only train and run, but help raise funds which will be used exclusively for disease research at the institute. The OUC Half Marathon and 5K will be the team’s warm-up run before the Walt Disney World Marathon.

Girls on the Run utilizes the power of running and being active to help influence how girls, grades three through eight, see themselves and their futures. The girls meet twice weekly for 12 weeks with this year’s 5K serving as their final personal challenge of the season. A program that began in 1996 and has featured thousands of participants, Girls on the Run will have nearly 100 girls running in this year’s 5K.

The OUC Half Marathon begins at 7:00 a.m., while the 5K begins around 7:10 a.m. this Saturday, December 6. Registration remains open until race time and there are two easy ways to register for the race. Runners can register in person on the day-of or online by clicking on the link or by downloading a paper form at the OUC Half Marathon portion of FCSports.com.

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