Bangkok--10 Sep--GolinHarris
adidas, a global leader in running, today celebrated the success of Southeast Asia’s ultimate running event as this year’s King of the Road (KOTR) event came to a vibrant finish at Suvarnabhumi Airport. Around 2,500 participants fought their way to the finish line, vying for the ‘adidas King of the Road 2013’ crown.
KOTR, the annual running event, this year was more special than ever with the opportunity to run alongside Suvarnabhumi airport. Runners got to experience huge aviation jets, at ground level while taking in the stunning view of the lights illuminating the runway and terminal.
In Thailand, the event was open to participants in two categories — the ‘Closed’ category (Men/Women) was open to local runners (Thai nationality) and the ‘Open’ category (Men/Women) for international participants. The winners of the Closed categories (Men/Women) received KOTR prizes and qualify for an all-expenses paid trip to Malaysia for the ‘King of the Road: Southeast Asia Championship 2013’ on 20 October 2013.
Continuing the tradition since its official launch, the KOTR race will tour five countries — the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia (in that order) — offering the most scenic local city race routes available to running enthusiasts. KOTR covers a total distance of 84 km, the equivalent of two full marathons. Each country’s race is a qualifying leg, culminating in the grand finals, this year in Malaysia, where the ultimate champion will be crowned the adidas Southeast Asia ‘King of the Road 2013’.
With a unique 16.8km route, the race is targeted at everyone who likes to run — from the social runner to the serious athlete. For those who were not quite up to the challenge of the main 16.8 km route, adidas offered shorter running distances of 10 km and 5 km (any nationality) for those with sport in their heart, and this year’s edition also saw a new additional event of a 5 km Schools’ Program, inspiring the younger generations aged under 18; adidas gave special trophies to the winners in the top three places for the Schools’ Program.
“When it comes to running, adidas has a simple philosophy — to strive and to support runners of all abilities to achieve their goals. The organization of running events such as the adidas King of the Road championship annually encourages a healthy and active lifestyle, inspiring more and more people to get into the sport of running, a category we will continue to support and develop in 2013 and further,” said Mr. Vijay Chauhan, Country Manager, adidas (Thailand) Co., Ltd.
“Having established itself not only as a regional class competitive race, the KOTR has received fantastic support from many areas e.g. Suvarnabhumi Airport (for public relations and location arrangements); the Tourism Authority of Thailand (for promoting the event to foreign residents in Thailand); and many other supporters for their kind support with other products and services. We feel very honored to have been offered all of this for this great event,” added Mr. Chauhan.
Mrs. Rawewan Netrakavesna, General Manager of Suvarnabhumi Airport, stated she is very pleased that Suvarnabhumi Airport is supporting ‘adidas King of The Road’ event by allowing the use of Suvarnabhumi 3 road (beside the East runway and leading up to Bangna-Trad Road) for the event. This race will give its participants an exceptional experience in which they could view airplanes taking off and landing during the event. Suvarnabhumi Airport cooperated by temporarily closing the road during the event, with the support of police officers from Suvarnabhumi Airport Police Station ensuring the safety of participants in order to provide the best experience possible.
Suvarnabhumi Airport is honored to have the opportunity to organize this world-class race. Not only will this event make adidas King of the Road famous all over the world, but will also help push Thai athletes onto the world stage and trigger Thai people to start exercising for good health.
Celebrities who made personal breakthroughs in this race were Navin Tar, Natalie Glebova, Nat Sakdatorn and O Onuchit, Celebrities from The Stars