Northern summit on how to best run marathons

[webfact]

Northern summit on how to best run marathons

By Lerpong Amsa-ngiam 
The Nation

 

 

Chiang Rai will host a Global Running Summit and the Umay+ Chiang Rai 2019 21.1 (km) international half marathon from July 4-7.

 

 

In an attempt to develop Thailand’s marathon events to meet international standards the summit, the first of its kind in Asia, will bring in people with a vast experience of running or managing marathons to share their knowledge.

 

“The summit is in line with our policy to develop marathon events in Thailand to meet international standards and get recognition worldwide, said Kongsak Yodmanee, governor of Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT). 

 

“In addition, we attempt to use sports as an economic boost for cities and communities, especially secondary cities. With such an importance, we have supported the meeting with the cooperation from many private and public sectors.”

 

The summit will discuss logistics, traffic management, course measurement, security, police, volunteers, sponsorship and copyrights. Moreover, all the parties involved in the running industry ranging from organisers, sponsors, agencies, companies to service organisations will be invited to attend in order to learn and then apply information to improve their own events to international recognition.

 

The governor added that several marathon specialists had confirmed they would take part in the meeting at the Riverie by Katathani hotel in Chiang Rai province.  These include Boston Marathon Start Line Director Andy Duchesne, Chicago Marathon representative Lacy M Howen, New York City Marathon Finish Line Coordinator David Katz,  and Manabu Tanaka, International Relation, Tokyo Marathon.

 

Pol Maj. Gen Surapong Ariyamongkol, vice president and general-secretary of the Athletic Association of Thailand, said that all the theories and knowledge from the summit will be put into practice at the Umay+ Chiang Rai 2019 21.1 international half-marathon on July 7.

 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/sports/30369830

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2019-05-23

Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking Thailand news and visa info

[geoffbezoz]

Only a matter of time then before Thailand becomes "The Hub of Marathon Running"   ????????

[Katipo]

As a person who has joined up to 2 or 3 running events of all shapes and sizes around the world for the last 7 years or so, I have to say the quality of organisation in Thailand is generally very high. The big exception to this is usually when big companies organise events to cash in on the popularity of the sport and promote themselves. When the treat the sponsor as the most important ingredient, not the runners, things often go wrong (traffic congestion, safety issues, and of course, running out of water along the route).

A few years ago, you'd be lucky if you could find 2 or 3 events a week, with most of these being in Bangkok. Now you'll find 20-30 scattered all over the country on Wingnaidee. With so much competition, and so much passion about running right now, the vast majority of these events are well organised. The biggest problem I find these days, especially for the more popular events, is finding accommodation near the events, and car parking. 

So in all in all, I think Thailand is doing very well. And that thanks to people who are so passionate about the sport being heavily involved in the event organisation.

[revgreen]

Will this be open to the public?