Piecing together a marathon effort

Tom Cotter, one of the leading architects of modern motorsports marketing, is not asking an arm and a leg in his latest pitch. He's putting his arms, legs and other body parts up for sale.

Cotter is selling sponsorships as he prepares for the New York City Marathon on Nov. 7. The exposure – he'll write-in sponsors' names on race day – is intended to benefit Team for Kids, a New York-based charity and marathon partner.

Think Patsy Cline singing "I Fall to Pieces." Cotter runs in pieces. Remember Janis Joplin exhorting her lover to take another "Piece of My Heart" with Big Brother & the Holding Company? Cotter is perhaps less bluesy, but he's offering a wider selection.

"Premium positions go first,” said Cotter, whose firm brokered many of the deals that helped turn race cars into high-speed billboards as the sport's popularity exploded in the 1980s.

His quarter panels – um, legs – were still available at this writing.

A lifelong runner, Cotter ran public relations at Charlotte Motor Speedway before starting his own marketing company. The Cotter Group, from which he's now retired, became a world leader.

One of the first sponsors he signed in the marathon effort was H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler. The longtime racing promoter was Cotter's boss at the track.

"I first thought about the fist but settled on the brain," Wheeler said, "because like a car's engine, Tom can't perform without it."

Jeff Burton is also buying in. Acknowledging Cotter's abilities in "putting sponsor names on sheet metal," Burton went with the runner's right foot, the one that mashes the gas.

Other parts spoken for so far include Cotter's back and both hands.

Team for Kids, established in 2002, provides free or low-cost school and community-based health and fitness programs to children.

Interested in getting a leg up on helping the cause, or other remaining piece of Cotter for the marathon? E-mail him at tomcotter@csx2490.com or call Colleen Brannan at 704.378.0123.