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Scheduled for Sunday, October 15th, in
Austin, Texas, the charity-focused event is the second of nine races in
Austin's RunTex Distance Challenge that culminates in the Motorola Marathon
and is being sponsored by RunTex, HEB, News 8 Austin and Do It Sports.
According to recent research from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the
leukemia death rate for children in the U.S. has declined 57 percent over the
last three decades; however, in children under age 15, leukemia causes more
deaths in the U.S. than any other disease. For the Motive family, this hits
close to home as the three-year-old daughter of a Motive employee was recently
afflicted with leukemia.
"The diagnosis of our employee's child was a catalyst for a company-wide
initiative to support cancer-fighting institutions."
"The diagnosis of our employee's child was a catalyst for a company-wide
initiative to support cancer-fighting institutions such as the Leukemia &
Lymphoma Society," said Scott Harmon, Motive's CEO. "Thankfully, her
condition is steadily improving. However, the life-altering struggle and
hardships she and her family have endured this year motivated our employees to
join together to help find a cure for this deadly disease. We are
anticipating over 1,000 runners from Austin and the surrounding areas to
attend our inaugural event in the crusade against Leukemia and other blood
related cancers."
"Leukemia patients' five-year survival rate has tripled in the last
40 years, nonetheless the effects of Leukemia and related diseases remain
pervasive and deadly," said Cindy Atmar, executive director of the Southwest
Texas Chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. "Motive's Bison Stampede
is an ideal venue to bring local runners and companies together to help fund
research that will bring us closer to finding a cure. We are most
appreciative to work with and benefit from a charity-driven company such as
Motive. Its employees and culture personify the spirit necessary to make an
impact."
The High-Tech Challenge: A Race-Within-a-RaceIn conjunction with the Bison Stampede, Austin Ventures, the largest venture capital firm in the Southwest, will be sponsoring the first-ever Austin High-Tech Challenge, a race-within-a-race for teams from area high technology companies. This unique event has been created to specifically target the Austin high-tech companies that have given Austin its notoriety as one of the world's leading technology hubs. Each participating company will be represented by a team of four runners. The team with the lowest overall finishing time will be the winners of the High-Tech Challenge. Among the early entrants in the High-Tech Challenge are Question.com, All.com, BroadJump and Hire.com. "We support Motive's mission to help combat Leukemia and are very excited to sponsor the first-ever High-Tech Challenge in Austin," said John Thornton, general partner of Austin Ventures. "It is a great pleasure to work with and help unite various organizations to compete against each other and the fight against Leukemia." Motive's 10K event will be held on a brand new racecourse at the Research Park community in North Austin, located adjacent to Motive's new corporate campus. The race begins at 8:00 a.m. with both the start and finish to be at North 183 and Oak Knoll. Awards will be given to the first through third place overall male, female and masters, in addition to, the top three male and female runners within age-specific categories. Finish line festivities will include refreshments and live music from Dysfunkshun Junkshun, an Austin disco/funk band. Race packets can be picked up at the RunTex North location beginning on Thursday, October 12th, at 10:00 a.m.
About the Leukemia & Lymphoma SocietyThe Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is the world's largest private organization concerned solely with funding research towards cures for blood- related cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma and improving the quality of life of patients and their families. As a result of ongoing research, overall survival rates for leukemia have tripled in the last 39 years. The Society is dedicated to being one of the top-rated voluntary health agencies in terms of dollars that directly fund the mission: close to 76% of The Society's expenditures are directed to research, patient and community services, advocacy, and education. For more information about leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, or to find one of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's 57 chapters, visit http://www.leukemia-lymphoma.org or call 1-800-955-4572.
About Austin VenturesSince 1979, Austin Ventures has grown to be the largest venture capital firm in the Southwest. With more than $1.6 billion of capital under management, Austin Ventures is one of the largest venture capital firms in the United States. Austin Ventures' investments include such companies as Tivoli, Vignette, Metasolv, Crossroads and Silicon Labs.
About the Bison StampedeIn 1997, Motive's founders conceived the company within the confines of the former Bison Warehouse in North Austin. Since its inception, Motive has adopted the bison as its corporate mascot to embody the company's everlasting culture with its hidden ability to outrun the fleetest horse over the roughest terrain. The company's first annual 10K race, named the Bison Stampede, will host Austin-based high tech organizations and distance runners to benefit the Southwest Texas Chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Motive's Bison Stampede will take place on Sunday, October 15th, at 8:00 a.m. at the Research Park community in north Austin. About Motive Communications Inc.Motive Communications powers online customer care by offering software solutions that automatically connect online users to a company's answers and experts when they have problems. These products are used to build unique e-service networks that help companies foster customer loyalty, drive revenue, supercharge service capacity and increase market share. Motive's software solutions are used by leading companies in many industries including all.com, Compaq, Dell, EDS, Fannie Mae, Gateway, General Electric Information Systems, Great Plains Software, Hewlett-Packard Company, Intuit, Kmart, Merrill Lynch, Peregrine, pcsupport.com, SAIC and Target Corporation. Motive was founded in May 1997 and is backed by $43M in funding from leading venture capital firms and private investors.
Source: Motive Communications
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