Former Guinness World Record Holder To Run 17,000 Miles

Announcing The Great Global Friendship Run

 Feature Story
For Immediate Release

 
Contact:
Stan Cottrell, Chairman
(770) 491-6867
Friendship Sports Association Inc.
98 Top Mast Drive
Clayton, GA 30525

Atlanta, Georgia, February 1, 2013 – Friendship Sports Association charity announces that Stan Cottrell, one of the all-time-great names of ultra distance runners, will run 34 miles per day, for 2 consecutive days per week until he runs through all the world’s 25o+ countries, territories and colonies.  He will spend one week in each country with festivities, seminars, sports events, cultural events, children’s events and work with orphans.

This adventure and epic odyssey of global friendships will begin in 2013.
Stan Cottrell is now 70 years old.

After running more than 200,000 miles thus far, Stan has learned first hand there is a rarely tapped reservoir of benign power for international diplomacy that has come from running through different countries.

 ”We need more people with a vision which allows people to connect in a non-threatening way.”

Upon hearing those words from a key national leader, acclaimed ultra-distance runner, Stan Cottrell of Tucker Georgia, set his eyes upon the finish-line of this great event – no matter how lengthy or how many years it requires.  Knowing tens of millions of people from every corner of the earth will be cheering him on, he will complete this compelling mission.

With major advances in communication technologies and growing globalization themes, an unprecedented opportunity to further bridge greater understanding between cultures is on the horizon. It will take a total of some 17,000 miles for Stan to run in most or all of the 250+ countries, territories and colonies of the world.  This will create a unique dimension of people-to-people initiative in Sports Diplomacy … and the beginning of many steps of a long journey to establish lasting friendships which span the globe.

Stan Cottrell provided a preview of the USA portion of The Great Global Friendship Run  at his family’s home farm, “Gobbler’s Knob” in Kentucky, last fall.  Cottrell ran 34-1/2 miles for each of two back-to-back days as the centerpiece of 6 days of interactive activities, concluding with a musical “Hoedown Celebration of Life” event.  This pattern will be repeated weekly for the five-to-six years needed to complete the adventure.

The Great Global Friendship Run

“An Adventure That Will Be Remembered For Centuries To Come…”

Starting  later in 2013, thousands will join Stan Cottrell, the most noted ultra distance runner, as he begins his one man odyssey in the innovative global event which has been hailed as being “of historic proportions” and “an adventure that will be remembered for centuries to come.” Friendship Sports and a sea of international partners will be coordinating the daily activities and all logistics of this grand event and its charitable outreach.

This unprecedented, 250-week sports and charity event is called  “The Great Global Friendship Run.”  The idea of a  run throughout the entire world was first conceived in 1984 when Stan Cottrell ran from The Great Wall of China to Guangzhou. This was followed by a run across the United States along with three Chinese distance runners, Cottrell’s . The event was highly acclaimed and publicized.  A feature length movie, China Run, chronicled the event and was shown in markets around the world.

Cottrell has already run across 38 countries promoting friendship, including twice across the USA, a 12-country run across Europe covering 80 kilometers per day for 80 days, Korea (twice), Dominican Republic (twice), Jamaica (twice), Bulgaria (3 times), Crimea, Cambodia, Vietnam (twice), and Berlin to Warsaw.  His 2123-mile run across China in just 53 days was the equivalent of running 2 marathons a day consecutively for 2 months.