Singapore, Wednesday, December 8, 2010 — adidas today announced plans to launch its very own running championship across Southeast Asia next year, titled the adidas ‘King of the Road’ (KOTR). Held in five countries across the region, and organised in city areas, the adidas KOTR race will culminate in an ultimate championship race that will be held in a different host country each year.

The race will make its regional debut in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines.

In Singapore, the adidas KOTR race will be held on 28 August 2011 and is open to participants across two categories — the ‘Closed’ category (Men/Women) is open to local runners (Singaporeans and Permanent Residents) and the ‘Open’ category (Men/Women) for international participants. Registration for the adidas KOTR race in Singapore will be open from mid-January 2011 onwards with more specific details to be announced at a later date.

The winner of each country’s Closed categories (Men/Women) will qualify for an all-expenses paid trip to compete in the adidas KOTR Southeast Asia Championship held in next year’s host country, the Philippines, in a bid to be crowned the adidas South East Asia ‘King of the Road 2011’. The same rules also apply across all participating countries.

adidas aims to target a total of 10,000 participants in Singapore for the maiden race, with over 45,000 participants in total across the region.

Another differentiating factor of the adidas KOTR race is that each year will feature a different theme. The theme for the 2011 race will be titled ‘Colours’ and represented through the variety of different coloured adidas t-shirts racing participants will don.

With a unique 16.8km route, the city race is targeted at everyone who likes to run — from the social runner, to the serious athlete. One of the objectives of the adidas KOTR is also to encourage runners to take part in all five adidas KOTR events across Southeast Asia, as the total distance completed will be the equivalent of two full marathons (84km).

To encourage this cross-country participation, adidas will be offering participants in any of the adidas KOTR races across Southeast Asia a 10% discount on race fees to participate in another adidas KOTR race.

“As a global leader in running, adidas is geared towards helping runners all over the world perform better with the introduction of products, technology and platforms designed purely with a runner’s needs in mind. The organisation of running events such as the adidas King of the Road championship is meant for runners to challenge themselves and achieve personal breakthroughs,” said Marcus Chew, adidas Senior Manager, Brand Communications and Sports Marketing, Area SEA.

“This event comes at a time when running is becoming increasingly popular with Singaporeans and across Southeast Asia. Keeping up with this fitness trend, we hope to contribute to the vibrant sports scene in Singapore and the region by cultivating sporting habits and an active lifestyle. In addition, with the increasingly limited running routes available in Singapore, we hope that the adidas KOTR will offer runners the opportunity to run different routes across the region that will ultimately enhance their running experience.”