Kaiser Permanente Rock ‘n’ Roll Pasadena Half Marathon Anticipates More Than 7,000 Participants on February 17 at the Rose Bowl

As the title race sponsor, Kaiser Permanente encourages healthy and active lifestyles; Event benefits CureMito! to raise awareness for mitochondrial disease; Far East Movement to headline post race concert

PASADENA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Competitor Group, Inc. (CGI), the leading active lifestyle sports media and event entertainment company, announced today that the Kaiser Permanente Rock ‘n’ Roll Pasadena Half Marathon on February 17 anticipates more than 7,000 runners, who may also hit their stride and personal best, as they enjoy live music from local bands playing along the 13.1 mile course through the streets of Pasadena.

“We are thrilled to be the title sponsor of the Kaiser Permanente Rock ‘n’ Roll Pasadena Half Marathon because it aligns so clearly with Kaiser Permanente’s longstanding commitment to supporting health and wellness in the local community”

This year, some of the many Kaiser Permanente employees participating will also be wearing Elvis costumes to add a little bit of fun and excitement while running and listening to their favorite local rock bands. The event includes a new 5k ‘mini’ marathon and benefits CureMito!, a non-profit dedicated to the treatment and research of mitochondrial disease.

“We are thrilled to be the title sponsor of the Kaiser Permanente Rock ‘n’ Roll Pasadena Half Marathon because it aligns so clearly with Kaiser Permanente’s longstanding commitment to supporting health and wellness in the local community,” said Benjamin Chu, MD, MPH, MACP, group president for Kaiser Permanente Southern California and Kaiser Permanente Hawaii. “We’re always encouraging our members, employees and everyone to lead healthy lifestyles to achieve total health - mind, body and spirit. Whether your personal choice is walking, dancing, or running a race like the Rock ‘n’ Roll Pasadena Half Marathon, the important thing is to always stay active and find ways to make fitness a pleasurable experience.”

The Kaiser Permanente Rock ‘n’ Roll Pasadena Half Marathon starts and finishes at the iconic Rose Bowl Stadium, featuring a scenic course that crosses the Colorado Bridge, runs through Old Town Pasadena and around the Brookside Golf Course. Runners enjoy numerous landmarks along the route including the Tournament House, the Norton Simon Museum and more. After crossing the finish line, runners will join family and friends to celebrate their accomplishment at the finish line festival and headliner concert. All runners receive free entry to the concert headlined by the Far East Movement, who will take the finish line stage at approximately 10:00 am.

“Whether participants are running for their personal record or just to reach the finish line, the end goal of both the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series and Kaiser Permanente is achieved — to get our community moving and have fun in the process,” said Bruce Revman, SVP of Marketing at CGI. “From the training leading up to the event to the Health & Fitness Expo, we’re constantly encouraging participants and giving them the best tools possible to be successful on race day and beyond. This exciting partnership with Kaiser Permanente will only help us further enhance and increase our efforts.”

Organized by CGI, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series started as a simple idea in 1998 — the idea of making running fun — and soon transformed the U.S. running landscape by infusing the race course with live bands, cheer teams, themed water stations and then topping the experience off with a finish line concert celebration for all participants. Today, the series of entertainment themed marathons and half-marathons has spread to 32 cities around the world and continues to enjoy great appeal for the traveling runner, tremendous local support and has firmly established itself as a dynamic active lifestyle platform.

The event weekend in Pasadena will begin Friday, February 15, with a two-day Health & Fitness Expo at the Pasadena Convention Center. The Expo, which is free and open to the public, will showcase the latest in running products and services with interactive clinics by fitness experts.

The event benefits CureMito!, a charity dedicated to support innovative research, treatment and education of mitochondrial disease and functional disorders. With the help of Grey’s Anatomy star and CureMito! ambassador, Chandra Wilson, the relatively new non-profit will raise awareness and funds for the research and treatment of mitochondrial disease. Once thought to be rare and severe, mitochondrial disease is now believed to affect more children than all childhood cancers combined. Further information about CureMito! can be found at curemito.org.

For more information or to register for the Kaiser Permanente Rock ‘n’ Roll Pasadena Half Marathon benefiting CureMito!, please visit: RunRocknRoll.com or follow @RunRocknRoll on Twitter.

About CureMito!

CureMito is a non-profit 501c3 charity composed of a partnership between the families of children with mitochondrial functional disorders and the business community. Although an independent organization, we have strong connections to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Our mission is to establish and support a local center of excellence for the innovative research, treatment and education in mitochondrial disease and functional disorders. The foundation’s vision is to enable families affected by mitochondrial dysautonomia and functional disorders to benefit from the clinical treatment and laboratory research provided by Dr. Boles and his colleagues and to raise money for the research needed to improve these existing treatments. For more information or to sign up for Team Mito, visit http://curemito.org/contact/.

About Competitor Group

Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., Competitor Group, Inc. (CGI) is the active lifestyle industry’s leading media and event entertainment company. CGI’s portfolio of media and event assets span the full range of the expanding endurance industry and include a robust digital community on the web and on mobile across the Competitor Endurance Sports Network of websites. Additionally, Raceit.com, a leading digital registration platform, is the catalyst for the company’s race services offering that looks to meet the needs not only for the company’s owned and operated events, but also for endurance events of all sizes on behalf of the entire industry.

With a leading market share of endurance enthusiasts, CGI owns and operates 83 events around the world, including the flagship Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series, the TriRock Triathlon Series presented by REI, the NFL Run Series and REI Muddy Buddy Series, collectively delivering more than 600,000 professional and amateur participants in 2013. Anchoring the company with rich content and marketing leverage are five publishing properties dedicated to running, cycling, triathlon and the world of multisport including Velo, Inside Triathlon, Triathlete, Women’s Running and Competitor with a combined monthly circulation of over 700,000. Further information about CGI and its digital, publishing and event entertainment properties can be found at CompetitorMediaKit.com.

About Kaiser Permanente Southern California

Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high quality, affordable health care services to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve more than 3.5 million members in Southern California. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: www.kp.org/newscenter.