RacingThePlanet® Appoints Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts as Official Hotel for the Sahara RaceTM 2005 (Egypt)
(June 22, 2005, Hong Kong) -- RacingThePlanet is pleased to announce that the Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts has been chosen as the official hotel partner for the Sahara Race 2005 (Egypt). Located in the area around the famous Giza Pyramids, the Mövenpick Resort will be used as a base for pre-event preparations and training and where competitors will spend two nights after having completed the 250 kilometer footrace across the Sahara Desert. The event begins on September 25, 2005 and will conclude seven days later at the foot of the Pyramids.
The Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts is a premium international Swiss hotel chain, operating 51 hotels in 18 countries, with a geographic focus on European metropolitan centers, the Middle East and Africa. The Mövenpick philosophy is based on sincere and heartfelt hospitality, uncompromisingly high product and service quality as well as excellent levels of staff training and team motivation. Speaking of this appointment, Mary K. Gadams, Founder and C.E.O. of RacingThePlanet said: "The Mövenpick Resort offers a good range of facilities combined with outstanding service. It is important for us to work with international companies who understand the high quality nature of our brand as we strive to offer our customers the best service at all times. In addition, the Mövenpick supports the healthy lifestyle of our customers by offering a complete range of fitness facilities and outstanding international and local cuisines". One hundred competitors representing twenty one
different countries will take part in the Sahara Race 2005 (Egypt), which is part of the 4 Deserts series, one of world's most prestigious outdoor sporting events. The countries represented at this year's Sahara Race 2005 (Egypt) are expected to include: Argentina, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Russia, St Lucia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States. Competitors generally comprise business executives, elite athletes, entrepreneurs and other professionals.
The Sahara Race 2005 (Egypt) will follow a marked course around the Bahariya and Farafra Oases, in the Black and White Deserts. It will be the first ever international sporting event to take place in this pristine and virtually untouched part of the desert.
The race format is a seven-day, six-stage, 250 kilometer self-supported footrace across the Sahara Desert. Competitors have to make their way each day to the end of the stage, typically the campsite, where they can rest until the start of the next stage the following morning. There is one 80 kilometer stage held over two days during which competitors continue the race through the night guided by glow sticks.
In the planning stages prior to the start of the race, consideration is given to the type of terrain and the local culture competitors will encounter. Both of these elements are vital to an outstanding event that will make up the overall experience of a 4 Deserts event. Seas of sand are expected in the Sahara Race along with many kilometers across the White Desert, often referred to as "a ghost town" because of the natural chalk sculptures formed over thousands of years by wind erosion which rise up out of the desert to provide spectacular scenery.
About RacingThePlanet®
RacingThePlanet® is an international outdoor lifestyle brand and world leader in organizing some of the world's most prestigious outdoor events including the 4 Deserts™, a series of 7-day footraces across the world's largest and most forbidding deserts. These events include the Gobi March™ in China, the Atacama Crossing™ in Chile, the Sahara Race™ in Egypt and The Last Desert™ in Antarctica. Headquartered in Hong Kong, RacingThePlanet® has representative offices in the United States, Korea, Japan, Sweden and Chile.
Media Contact:
Catherine Cole,
ccole@racingtheplanet.com
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