O-STA

MCC smart GmbH sports sponsorship: smart takes the lead at the real,- BERLIN-MARATHON 2002

Renningen (ots) - The highlight and finale of this year's smart marathon season is the real,- BERLIN-MARATHON on September 29th. For the second time, smart will be taking its position on the starting line as the official car sponsor at this event, which is one of the biggest and most popular races in the world. Prior to this Berlin sports highlight, smart was prominently involved in more than 25 international marathons and city races, including renowned events in Ohme/Japan, Paris, Rotterdam, Madrid, Vienna and Brussels.

The yellow and black FOLLOW ME smart, a distinctive feature of races sponsored by smart which is already familiar in the running scene, will also be leading the field in Berlin. As well as this there will be smart cars equipped with timer systems along the marathon route helping the runners to check their optimum speed. In total, there will be almost 100 smart cars in action in Berlin.

The successful cooperation with the sports articles manufacturer adidas has been continued this year. Twelve specially designed smart city-coupés and smart cabrios are present at all smart/adidas marathons, and this will also be the case in Berlin. This year's real,- BERLIN-MARATHON, which is well-known for new records, will be particularly exciting: at the finishing line there will be two smart/adidas cars waiting for their new owners. This means that the world-record runner amongst the men and/or women will not only have his/her winning success to celebrate but can also look forward to one of these special smart city-coupés.

However, smart has not only come up with something for the top runners. During the race, the smart photographers will be out and about on the marathon route. With a bit of luck, after the race the participants will be able to call up their own photo in the smart gallery at www.smart-running.com and send it as an E-card.

smart sponsors city marathons because smart drivers and the participants in these marathons have something decisive in common. Both are fast at getting around in the city. This is why no other sport suits the smart city-coupé and the smart cabrio as perfectly, both of which have been designed mainly for use in urban areas. What is more, smart reaches its exact target group at the city marathons: people who are more active than average, who have a wide range of interests and an individual lifestyle - without age limits.

ots Originaltext: Micro Compact Car smart GmbH

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Markus Mainka

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You will find general visual material on MCC smart and smart cars at http://media.smart.com.