Record Numbers Expected at Laguna Phuket International Marathon

The fourth Laguna Phuket International Marathon, presented by Nike, is scheduled for Sunday 14 June 2009 at the Laguna Phuket.

Over 4000 participants, including 1500 international runners from approximately 40 countries are expected to take part in this year’s event.

Since the inaugural event in 2006 there has been an impressive 100% increase in entries from 2038 in 2006 to an anticipated 4450 in 2009.

Despite the global economic crisis and the slowdown in international tourism, the increase in athlete numbers demonstrates that participatory events targeting international audiences are an effective mechanism to drive tourism in these complex times.

Raimund Wellenhofer, Race Director of the Laguna Phuket International Marathon said, “When we envisioned a marathon in Phuket as early as 2004 we knew that success would not happen overnight. We have worked continuously over the last five years to promote the event to a worldwide audience. We have established relationships with travel agents around the world, regularly attend major international marathon expos to promote our event and use e-marketing to communicate with our target market. We are excited to see that this hard work is now starting to pay off.”

Ms. Pinnaratana Dasanabyaggha, marketing communications manager of Nike (Thailand) Ltd., said, “As part of Nike’s support for this marathon race, we are organizing a series of four weekly training runs, featuring expert advice on preparation for a marathon. We strongly believe that the knowledge and experience shared in this training will help runners improve their performance at the 2009 Laguna Phuket International Marathon and other future races. In addition, Nike also supports runners under our sponsorship to take part in this marathon event, including national squad runner Amnuay Tongmit and female marathoner Patcharee Chaithongsri, who most recently won the 2009 Kentucky Derby Marathon in Louisville, USA.”

A series of events will kick off on Friday 12 June starting with a two-day expo featuring sponsor booths and a number of activities including a welcome pasta party at Laguna Beach Resort the evening before the event and a farewell party on race day. Race day on 14 June will comprise a 42k Marathon, a 21k Half-marathon, a 10.5k Run, a 2k Kids Run and a 5k Walk. 

Online registration is now open until 5 June 2009.

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