Robert Kirby
The 500 team slots available for this year’s Sands China Macau Eco TrailHiker, taking place on October 31, have been filled in just ten days, said Macau TrailHiker director Robert Kirby.
Mr Kirby highlighted the community’s great response to the event, as more people join TrailHiker this year.
“I think there’s a growing awareness that we need to take better care of ourselves (…) there’s a growing awareness about the event and the value it provides. And also about the environmental part, because people realize that we have not been taking the best care of the environment as we should have worldwide,” he told the Times.
Mr Kirby added that organizers hope to encourage people to exercise regularly, and therefore have asked the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) “to consider marking the TrailHiker course with permanent signage.”
The annual charitable race has garnered overwhelming support from local communities and the corporate world. Last year, there were 450 slots, which sold out within 20 days. Organizers this year added 50 more slots to meet demand.
Mr Kirby recalled that from dealers to security guards or even VPs, casino resort employees, especially from title sponsor Sands China, have also joined the event for team building purposes.
“We have senior executives in the gaming industry joining too. It’s across the whole of Macau, because we are promoting communication between teams; it’s not an individual event, but a team event; and that’s why we get such good support from the corporate world,” he added.
Mr Kirby also highlighted the race’s charitable purpose: “I think people feel that they’re enjoying the event while giving back to the community.” This year, the Macau Special Olympics and the Macau Association for the Mentally Handicapped are the two chosen beneficiaries.
He believes that the title’s sponsor commitment to TrailHiker has also played a role in the event’s success: “Sands China have been a great title sponsor; we organize events around Asia and they make it so much easier for us as an organizer. Their heart is in it. They’re fully involved, they want to be successful and see it as a very important event.”
Mr Kirby acknowledged that they’re hoping to grow the race slowly at about eight percent a year, so as to maintain current quality and security standards. He concluded by saying that, “we would like to keep the event growing, so next year we might get to 525 or 550. But the demand is there, clearly.”
Macau Daily Times is the media partner for the event. CP
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