Largest ever one-day running event includes concerts in cities around the world today

By Robin Rowe

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 8/31/08 – “I’m hitting the stage in Los Angeles for the Nike+ Human Race,” says nine-time Grammy Award winning artist Kanye West. “This race is bringing together hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world to run and listen to some great music while serving a higher cause, and I’m excited to perform in L.A. as part of the grand finale.”

The 10k race brings an unprecedented day of races and activities to 25 designated race cities around the globe, starting in Taipei, ending in LA and including cities across Europe, Asia and North and South America.

West headlines the run’s post race concert at the L.A. Coliseum, for the grand finale of the 25-city Nike+ Human Race. In London, Moby will perform in the city’s famed Wembley Stadium. In New York, All-American Rejects plays. In Chicago, it’s Fall Out Boy. In Paris, R&B singer Kelly Rowland. In Madrid, dance-electro-pop duo The Pinker Tones. In Istanbul, Turkish pop sensation Kenan Dogulu. In Munich, the Fantastic Four. In Shanghai, the Beijing-based singing duo Yu Quan. And in Singapore, American rock band Boys Like Girls.

“As a committed runner and a cancer survivor, I’m proud to be participating in the Nike+ Human Race,” says Lance Armstrong. “The race offers the best of both worlds by bringing together a global community to run together and support worthy causes like the Lance Armstrong Foundation, the UN refugee agency’s ninemillion.org and WWF in our combined efforts to have a positive impact on the world.”

Other Nike athletes to run with the world and for a cause include six-time marathon winner and current NY Marathon Champion, Paula Radcliffe. Middle distance runner Kara Goucher will be running to support the WWF. Marathoner Meb Keflezighi will be representing NineMillion.org.

“The Nike+ Human Race is about inspiring and connecting a million runners worldwide,” says Nike vice president Trevor Edwards. “We’re offering runners new ways to compete and race, courses through legendary landmarks, each ending with a headlining musical act.  It’s an unprecedented way for us to bring an entirely new running experience to consumers around the globe.”

Each city’s race starts today, with the first race kicking off in Taipei and the last ending in L.A. Race courses take runners by famous landmarks such as the L.A.Coliseum, world’s tallest building Taipei 101, Mexico City’s historic center and the Puerta del Sol in Madrid. Istanbul’s race course spans the city’s Bosphorus Bridge, closing it to car traffic to allow participants to run from Europe to Asia and back again.

“We were excited when Nike came to us with the challenge of designing the course for New York,” says New York Road Runner’s Vice President of Event Development Production Peter Ciaccia. “Having 25 cities around the world racing against each other on a single day is a great concept. Whenever we design a course outside of Central Park, there are numerous organizations and departments that must be involved. In this case, we worked closely with the Randall’s Island Sports Foundation, NYC Parks Department, along with NYPD and the MTA.”

Event sponsors include Saturn cars, Starbucks, Gatorade, New York Road Runners, the New York City Sports Commission, Randall’s Island Sports Foundation, ZogSport, Poland Spring, Crunch, Bear Naked granola, PowerBar and Nike.

The Nike+ 10k Human Race starts at on Sunday, August 31, 2008, 6pm. The winners of the Australian race are being flown across across the international dateline to enable them to also compete in the Los Angeles race.