Elite Racing Hopes To Bring Rock & Roll To Phoenix Marathon

San Diego-based sports management company Elite Racing "is interested in creating one of the world's 10 largest marathons" in Phoenix, and the company and the Maricopa County (AZ) Sports Commission are in talks about a marathon/half-marathon to be called "Rock 'n' Roll Arizona" that would debut in December '03 with a projected 35,000 runners, according to Jeff Metcalfe of the ARIZONA REPUBLIC. Elite Racing Founder & President Tim Murphy said that Rock 'n' Roll Arizona "would have a budget approaching $4[M], ... and the race would be televised on Fox Sports Net as part of its New Balance Elite Racing series." Metcalfe adds that separate marathon and half-marathon courses might be used, with each finishing in downtown Phoenix. Meanwhile, Sports Commission Exec Dir Mike Sculley "is working with the cities of Phoenix and Tempe in addition to various Convention and Visitor Bureaus plus the county and state to raise the $500,000 in cash and value-in-kind support necessary to land the race" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 4/25).