HARBOR BRANCH - OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

HARBOR BRANCH OPENS TO THE PUBLIC FOR 9TH ANNUAL 5K RUN/WALK

On Saturday, November 20, Harbor Branch will hold its 9th annual 5K run/walk. As in past years, proceeds from the event will be used to support marine science research. The event, which has grown in size each year, drew about 200 people in 2003.

Registration begins at 7:00 a.m., and the run/walk starts at 8:00 a.m. Participants will follow an officially certified course that winds throughout Harbor Branch's campus past the institution's main buildings, through the Aquaculture Development Park, and along a scenic road beside the Indian River Lagoon.

This will be the first onsite Harbor Branch event open to the public since the campus was closed due to hurricane damage (Associates Program events are currently being held off campus at Indian River Community College). Participants will be directed through the campus main gate to the parking area at the Johnson Education Center.

Sign up is possible the morning of the event or online (http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1174500). The registration fee is $15.00. Harbor Branch is located at 5600 US 1 North in Fort Pierce.

For more information or high-res photos of past runs and the Harbor Branch campus, please contact Mark Schrope at 772-216-0390 or schrope@hboi.edu.

HARBOR BRANCH Oceanographic Institution was founded in Ft. Pierce, Fla., in 1971 to support the exploration and conservation of the world's oceans. The institution has held to this mission and grown into one of the world's leading oceanographic institutions with a 500-acre campus, over 200 personnel, and a fleet of sophisticated research ships and submersibles.