Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Bank International Marathon 
announces a new Race Director.

Detroit, Michigan-

Heath Meriwether, Publisher of the Detroit Free Press, 
today announced that Doug Kurtis will assume the role 
of race director for the Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Bank 
International Marathon. " Doug comes to us with an tremendous 
amount of experience and history in the field of marathoning 
and race management" Meriwether said.

Kurtis has not only completed the Detroit Free Press/Flagstar 
Bank International Marathon 16 times, winning the event a record 
six times but has also completed a total of over 190 marathons 
in 25 countries, holds the world records in the marathon 
for the most victories (39) and the most sub 2:20's (76).

"Those who have followed my career in both running and race 
directing would say that I was groomed to take on this challenge.  
Success will come as a team, with that team including the Detroit 
Free Press, the marathon staff, the event sponsors, the surrounding
communities of Detroit and Windsor, the volunteers, the running clubs 
and the media"  Kurtis said.


- more -

 Kurtis, has been the a director and co-director of the 
Road Runner Classic in Northville since 1983 and has been 
a contributing writer to the Michigan Runner magazine. He will 
assume full responsibility for the management of event operations 
from coordinating the race route with both the cities of Detroit 
and Windsor to securing sponsorship sales, managing media relations,
coordinating volunteers and aid station logistics  and growing the 
number of  participants in both the amateur and elite runner fields.

Meriwether states, "Doug is a Michigander and considers this 
marathon his 'hometown marathon'.  One of our goals for this 
event is to increase the involvement of the whole community, 
from church groups and businesses along the race route to 
schools and school children. Who could be better partners 
in accomplishing this than the 'hometown' newspaper and our 
'hometown' marathoner? "

The Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Bank International Marathon 
just completed its 21st year of running, with close to 3,000 
participants, over 2,000 volunteers and it has raised over 
$2.5 million for the Multiple Sclerosis Society.  It has been 
rated one of the top twenty marathons in the country and with 
its history dating back to 1963 it is the 8th oldest marathon in 
the U.S..  

The 22nd running of the Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Bank
International Marathon is tentatively scheduled for October 17, 1999.