BALANCE Bar 24-Hour Adventure to Host Top Adventure Racers in New Five Stop Series.

Sports Editors

STAMFORD, Conn.--(BW SportsWire)--Feb. 11, 2002

The 2002 BALANCE(R) Bar 24-Hour Adventure, the ultimate test of physical endurance, will make stops in Phoenix, Portland, Boston, New York and finish with the series championship in Los Angeles, CA, on November 16th, 2002. Teams of three will vie for the National Championship title as sanctioned by USA Adventure Racing. The BALANCE(R) Bar 24-Hour Adventure Series offers $15,000 per event with a total purse of $110,000.

Competitor divisions include: Elite Coed, Coed, Male, Female, Corporate or Masters Coed (combined age of 120+). Adventure racing disciplines featured in the BALANCE(R) Bar 24-Hour Adventure include mountain biking, trekking, kayaking, climbing/rappelling and navigation. Additional events in select locations will include coasteering, in-line skating, road biking and much more.

"The BALANCE(R) Bar 24-Hour Adventure will challenge adventurers' mental tenacity and their ability to race without sleep, while at the same time providing them the experience of a lifetime," said Michael Epstein, Octagon's event producer.

              2002 BALANCE(R) Bar 24-Hour Adventure Dates

Phoenix, Ariz.                      May 4-5
Portland, Ore. (Gorge Games)        July 20-21
Boston, Mass.                       August 24-25
New York, N.Y.                      October 5-6
Los Angeles, Calif. (Series Final)  November 16-17

The series of BALANCE(R) Bar 24-Hour Adventures will be televised on the Outdoor Life Network in one-hour feature presentations (air-dates to be determined). Entry fee for each BALANCE(R) Bar 24-Hour Adventure is $750 per team. Entry information will be available on-line at www.balancebar24hour.com. For further information, please visit the BALANCE(R) Bar 24-Hour Adventure web site or call [phone]. For more information about the sport of adventure racing, check out the USA Adventure Racing web site at www.usaar.net.

BALANCE(R) Bar was founded in 1992. BALANCE branded bars include BALANCE(R) Bars, BALANCE +(TM) Bars, BALANCE OUTDOOR(TM), BALANCE GOLD(TM) and BALANCE(R) Oasis Bars. The company is headquartered in Rye Brook, New York.

Octagon is the sports marketing and entertainment division of The Interpublic Group (NYSE:IPG), one of the world's largest advertising and marketing communications groups. The company offers clients marketing-led expertise across the eight major disciplines that make up the sports and entertainment market: athlete representation, event management, consultancy, property representation, TV rights sales and distribution, TV production and archive, rights ownership, and licensing and merchandising. Octagon employs more than 1,200 people, in 19 countries on all major continents.