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Last night, just ahead of the kick off for NYC Marathon weekend, Paper Magazine and Asics threw an event at the top of The Empire Hotel celebrating the historic sport of marathon and supporting the 42nd run of the NYC Marathon, with Asics CEO Kevin Wulff and ESPN2's "First Take" co-hosts Dana Jacobson and Jay Crawford.
The packed event featured the bar's usual decor adorned with a full and colorful spectrum of shoelaces and lists of marathon facts like, "Over 90,000 shoes will be worn by marathoners during this year's race. That's over 56 miles of shoelaces." Servers wore Asics ensembles and bartenders served up specialty cocktails like "Marathon Manhattans" and "Five Boroughs Cosmos." Guests mingled to music by DJ (and Paper Mag "Life of the Partier") May Kwok and buzzed around corporate Asics, Olympic athletes, and the ESPN host duo. Speaking of, we got the chance to ask them about GQ's placement of the network's home base of Bristol, Connecticut on their "40 Worst Dressed Cities" list.
After struggling to photograph the television co-hosts, we took the opportunity to ask them about that list, and how GQ cited the network as their reasoning for Bristol's attire. The modest pair laughed it off. "I have to admit, when I first got to ESPN, it was pretty bad," joked Jacobson (who also admitted she reads Racked!). The pair also playfully referenced the style of some co-workers and told us that hosts who are former professional athletes almost always dress to impress. Jay Crawford even gave us insight into the fashionable style (and expensive taste) of former wide receiver and current ESPN broadcaster, Keyshawn Johnson.
Overall the successful event got attendees excited about the NYC Marathon, and the cause.—Payton Wang
· NYC Marathon [Official Site]
· Asics America [Official Site]
· PaperMag [Official Site]
· First Take [ESPN]
· No One is Safe in GQ's 40 Wort-Dressed Smack-down [Racked]