Circle of Life Mini Marathon receives sponsor

The inaugural Circle of Life Mini Marathon received a boost Wednesday when Evansville-based Old National Bank announced it would be the exclusive sponsor of the Sept. 9 race. \n"It is a privilege for Old National Bank to be a partner in this unique and inspiring initiative," said Old National President and CEO Bob Jones at a press conference. "To have a group of students with the vision and passion to orchestrate such an event to benefit cancer survivors is nothing less than extraordinary.\n"We are deeply committed to the event and the \norganization."\nJones declined to disclose the amount of the sponsorship.\nOld National's support will help fund the Bill Z. Littlefield Scholarship for Survivors, a scholarship that will be awarded to a cancer survivor to attend any IU campus. Littlefield was a senior lecturer in the Kelley School of Business who died of cancer last summer. Jones said Bill's daughter, Anna Littlefield, currently works for Old National. \n"This is something near and dear to our hearts," Jones said. "It's important to perpetuate the legacy of Bill Littlefield."\nJunior Kevin MacCauley, president and CEO of Circle of Life, said the organization approached several banks in regard to sponsoring the Mini Marathon. Last July, Circle of Life met with Joe Walker, regional president of the Old National Bank. MacCauley said the sponsorship is huge on a financial level.\n"We have the support of a corporation that's well-known in Indiana and the Midwest," he said.\nJones said he was impressed by the passion with which MacCauley came to Old National in search of a sponsorship and said the students involved are "extremely professional \nindividuals."\n"They did a wonderful job of making the cause real for us," he said.\nMyles Grote, Circle of Life's vice president of operations, said it's "phenomenal" that Old National Bank believed in the students who approached them about sponsoring the mini \nmarathon. \n"It really means more than words can tell by becoming the title sponsor for our race," he said.\nThe Mini Marathon is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 9. It will be the first collegiate mini marathon in Indiana, according to the organization's Web site. MacCauley said since registration began more than five months ago, people have registered from all over the United States, as well as from 20 cities in Indiana. Pre-registration costs $25 for nonstudents and $20 for students. There is also a 5K run and walk the same day for which pre-registration is $15.\nOld National isn't the only entity lending its support to the race. Bloomington radio station 96.7-WBWB is the radio sponsor and will be playing songs during the race that runners specifically request. Cheeseburger in Paradise is sponsoring the Greek Challenge, for which greek houses can receive points by participating in the race.\nThe Circle of Life was founded in 2004 and is a nonprofit student organization that raises money for charities. For more information and to register for the race, go to \nwww.iumini.com.