Austin Marathon and Half Marathon officials yesterday unveiled local chipmaker Freescale “as the new sponsor” of the event, according to Pam LeBlanc of the AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN. The event “now becomes the Austin Marathon and Half Marathon presented by Freescale.” The announcement comes six weeks after race organizers “confirmed they were parting ways with the Livestrong Foundation three years into a planned 10-year title sponsorship.” The partnership will be “a year-to-year arrangement reviewed annually by both parties.” Officials would not unveil the cost of the deal, but race Dir John Conley said that the marathon “will never have another name in front of the word Austin.” The race started in ‘91 as the Motorola Marathon, became the Freescale Austin Marathon in '05 for two years. AT&T picked up the title sponsorship in '07, but it had no title sponsor from '09-10 before picking up Livestrong in '11. Marathon officials are “still looking for partners to sponsor other facets of the race, from the expo to a new club challenge program designed to lure more elite athletes to the Austin race” (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 6/5).
