Press Release - Thailand Temple Run - 3/15/05

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                         Contact: Roman Floesser
                                                  Event Manager
                                                  02 2376910 - 4
                                                  

 
                      Thailand's cultural Marathon, 
                ING Thailand Temple Run on March 19, 2005
              
Thailand's cultural Marathon, the ING Thailand Temple Run will be held on 
Saturday, 19 March 2005. In its fourth edition, the race which offers a 
Marathon, Half Marathon and a 10.5 k Fun Run is a relative newcomer on the 
international running scene and still somewhat of a secret among runners. 

The ING Thailand Temple Run is held in the picturesque location of Samut 
Songkram province approximately 85 kilometers outside Thailand's capital 
Bangkok. The race course leads through the idyllic countryside of rural 
Thailand past Buddhist temples, through coconut and banana plantations, 
rice paddies and typical Thai villages. Along the course more than 15 Thai 
traditional bands perform and motivate the runners making the ING Thailand 
Temple Run a true cultural marathon. The start and finish area is located 
within one of the more than 300 temples in the province and a traditional 
Buddhist opening ceremony will be conducted there by the abbot of the 
temple.

Thanks to the new title sponsorship agreement with ING the race has 
experience a big boost locally and internationally. ING already sponsors 
among others the New York City Marathon and the Amsterdam Marathon. For 
this year organizers expect more than 2000 runners including more than 300 
foreign runners from 25 different countries. 

Among the 2000 runners will be all of Thailand's elite runners including 
Boonchu Chandecha, runner-up at last year's Bangkok Marathon with a 
personal best time of 2:22 hours, Southeast Asian 5000m champion Boonthung 
Srisang and last year's ING Thailand Temple winner Jirasak Sutthichart. No 
foreign elite runners will be invited as the organizers want to focus on 
local elite runners.

An elite athlete of a different kind is William Tan from Singapore. He will 
be the first wheelchair athlete ever to compete at the ING Thailand Temple 
Run. William Tan is on a bid to become the first wheelchair athlete to 
complete seven marathons on all seven continents and to gain entry into the 
Guinness Book of Records.The former Paralympian who is also a doctor wants 
to raise money for child cancer treatment. 

One of Austrian race director Raimund Wellenhofer's main objectives for the 
race is to set new standards in course safety, water station set-up & 
course marshalling in Thailand. Driven by that objective the ING Thailand 
Temple Run is the only marathon in Thailand which has a medical team on 
site and a traffic free course. With a strong vision for the future the 
event is set to grow in popularity and importance in Thailand and overseas.

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