SPORTSCLUB ASSOCIATION TO APPEAR
ON MDA TELETHON

TUCSON, Ariz., Aug. 24, 2006 – The International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA), headquartered in Boston, will appear, for the first time, on the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s 41st Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon.

IHRSA, the non-profit trade association representing commercial health clubs worldwide, will be represented on the broadcast by Augie Nieto, chairperson of MDA’s ALS Division, and Julie Main, owner of the Santa Barbara Health Club in Santa Barbara, Calif. and former chairperson of the IHRSA Board of Directors. They’ll present contributions to MDA raised by IHRSA members and member clubs.

Augie Nieto, co-founder and former president of Life Fitness, and chairman of Octane Fitness, is a founding member of IHRSA. He received a diagnosis of ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease) in March 2005.

He soon joined forces with MDA and created Augie’s Quest, an aggressive fund-raising campaign focused on supporting MDA research seeking treatments and cures for the fatal neuromuscular disease. Through its Get Active America! program and special events, IHRSA has supported Augie’s Quest since it began.

Nieto is also a national vice president of MDA.

The Telethon will originate from the South Coast Hotel in Las Vegas beginning at 9 p.m. EDT Sept. 3. The 21½-hour live show will be seen in Boston on WCVB, Channel 5, and on the Internet at www.mda.org.

This will be the organization’s first year as an MDA national sponsor.

“I’m thrilled to share the stage with Augie Nieto and Julie Main, who do so much good to benefit the research, service and information programs of MDA’s ALS Division,” MDA National Chairman Jerry Lewis said.

With more than 7,000 member clubs in 70 countries, IHRSA’s mission is to make the world healthier through regular exercise. There are more than 100 million health club members worldwide, with 41.3 million of those in the United States.

The ALS Division of MDA offers the most comprehensive range of services of any voluntary health agency in the nation, and leads the search for a treatment or cure through its aggressive, worldwide research. While all of MDA’s 225 hospital-affiliated clinics across the country serve people with ALS, MDA has designated 37 facilities at major medical institutions as MDA/ALS centers because of the amount of ALS research taking place there, and the medical staff’s vast experience in dealing with the disease.

The Association’s programs are funded almost entirely by individual contributors.

For additional information about IHRSA visit www.ihrsa.org. To locate an IHRSA club near you, go to www.healthclubs.com