Canton Marathon Chief Executive Responds to Today's 'Letter to the Editor'

Editor's note: The following letter was written by Stephen Mears, chief executive of the Hall of Fame City Challenge and 2012 Canton Marathon, in response to a letter to the editor written by Julia Dick, president of Canton Marathon, LLC.

I very much enjoyed working with Julia putting together the first marathon, but we've reached a point in our business dealings where we can no longer work together on this project. Our philosophies are opposite when it comes to running this event, so I am now forced to go in a different direction. She has refused to go forward with the race until all issues were resolved in her favor.

Most of the expenses paid to StrategyONE were payments for services rendered, as any other vendor relationship would work. We put 100% of our effort into putting on the marathon and incurred expenses as a result. Any money loaned to StrategyONE was for business purposes. We didn't turn a profit working on the marathon. I signed a note to repay these funds under duress.

I repeatedly attempted to settle this issue, have all of the outstanding liabilities handled, as well as offer a settlement to her. She repeatedly declined my offers to remedy the situation and move forward. My dispute is not over the finances, it is about putting on a race that benefits the community. Our customers, the runners, don't care to see a dispute play out, they want a race, and that's what I'm proceeding with.

Regards, Steve