ING New York City Marathon 2009 Official Pace Team will be Powered…

MIDDLEBURY, CT, October 26, 2009 – Timex Group USA, Inc., a principal sponsor and the exclusive official timing partner of the ING New York City Marathon, today announced that the Timex® Ironman® Sleek 150-lap watch with TapScreenâ„¢ Technology will play a key role in the ING DIRECT Pace Team’s efforts to pace the field. The Timex Ironman Sleek 150-Lap with TapScreen Technology is an innovative collection of precision sports timing instruments that conveniently responds to an athlete’s touch.

The collection will be used by all 30 official pacers to ensure they maintain their assigned pace, and keep thousands of runners on track to meet their ultimate time goals.

“For decades Timex technology has helped improve race day performances of the world’s elite athletes, but this is the first time Timex will officially pace runners in a 45,000-person field,” said Heberto Calves, vice president of marketing at Timex. “The Timex Ironman Sleek 150-Lap with TapScreen Technology allows athletes to spend less time managing their wristwatch and more time focusing on performance.”

The collection’s proprietary TapScreen Technology allows users to easily take laps by “tapping” anywhere on the timepiece’s face, rather than having to locate and push buttons mid-stride. The target time pacer feature delivers intuitive audible alerts, indicating when the runner is on pace, slow or fast, and allowing athletes to adjust their speed accordingly. The collection features a large-digit display and curved lens for easy viewing and tapping, and its strong, modern design is engineered to optimize ease-of-use, style and comfort.

In addition to this innovative collection, Timex will also showcase the ING New York City Marathon Timex® Ironman® commemorative watch, an adaptation of the powerful Timex Ironman 150-Lap watch which is co-branded with the official ING New York City Marathon logo. The watch is a commemorative timepiece intended to help the global but exclusive group of athletes who have run the world’s most prestigious marathon – past and present – to celebrate their extraordinary achievement.

Both collections will be available for purchase in the Timex booth at the ING New York City Marathon Health and Fitness Expo from October 29 to October 31, 2009, for $89.95. The ING New York City Marathon Timex Ironman watch is also available at New York Road Runners’ online store (www.nyrr.org) and its New York City headquarters, as well as at www.timex.com.

In 2008, Timex Group USA, Inc. signed on as a sponsor of the ING New York City Marathon through 2011, as part of the company’s ongoing initiative to increase the awareness for its state-of-the-art sports and fashion products.

As part of the partnership, the Timex brand will again be woven into NYRR’s multi-faceted marathon advertising campaign via print, online and out-of-home media. Timex will also be the presenting sponsor of the week-long Media Center at Tavern on the Green – home to over 1,500 credentialed members of the media during marathon week. As the official timing partner, Timex will also be identified at a number of high profile activation points on race day, including on all clocks throughout the course.

Five members of the Timex Multisport Team, a group of 40+ elite athletes who compete in major multisport events worldwide, will compete in the race on behalf of the brand. Elite amateurs Kimberly Hager, from The Woodlands, TX, and Daniel McGrath, of Las Vegas, NV, will join amateur Michael Lavery of Madison, WI, and professional racers Ian Ray of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, and Dave Harju of Quebec, Canada. They will join 14 Timex employees also participating in the race.

Timex’s presence in the fitness world has been evident for years via its sponsorship of the Ironman Triathlon event series. With a wide array of wellness and training timepieces priced at various levels, Timex has established a broad appeal to the millions of consumers who want to maintain a healthy lifestyle in a cost-effective manner. Timex recently announced a unique 15-year partnership with the New York Giants that enables both brands to collaborate on training solutions for athletes globally. As part of the partnership, the Giants’ new training facility and corporate headquarters in East Rutherford, NJ, is named the TIMEX Performance Center.

About Timex Sports Watches:
Timex has an unparalleled heritage of creating innovative, technologically advanced and reliable timepieces for endurance athletes, having introduced the first licensed Ironman brand watch in 1986. The Timex Ironman legacy of leadership, innovation and style in international sport is evident in the brand’s extensive anthology of elite training devices, fitness aids and wellness timepieces. Timex Ironman timepieces are worn by athletes on every continent and have been added to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

About the Timex Group
Timex Group designs, manufactures and markets innovative timepieces and jewelry globally. Founded in 1854, Timex has become part of Timex Group, a privately-held company with numerous brands and over 5,000 employees worldwide. It is one of the largest watch makers in the world.

New York Road Runners
New York Road Runners, founded in 1958, 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 nearly 100,000 schoolchildren in New York City, around the country, and in South Africa who would otherwise have few or no fitness opportunities. For more information visit www.nyrr.org.

The ING New York City Marathon
The premier event of New York Road Runners, the ING New York City Marathon is one of the world’s great road races, drawing nearly 105,000 applicants. The race attracts many world-class professional athletes, not only for the more than $600,000 in prize money, but also for the chance to excel in the media capital of the world before two million cheering spectators and a worldwide broadcast reach of 330 million. As any one of the nearly 788,000 past participants will attest, crossing the finish line in Central Park is one of the great thrills of a lifetime. For more information visit www.ingnycmarathon.org.