Runner Spans Length of Thailand

Mission accomplished !

Butch Colvin has achieved the historic goal of running the entire length of Thailand from north to south.

The superfit 46 year old US Navy reserve officer reached the vibrant town of Betong on the Malaysian border on February 16th, coincidentally Chinese new Year. He was accompanied for the last few kilometres of his run by a team of local Thai runners and cheered on by local schoolchildren. The mayor of Betong received Colvin on the border along with local and international media. It had taken him 77 running days to cover the 2114 kilometres, experiencing temperatures ranging from 9 to 31 degrees Celsius, and passing through spectacular tropical scenery, from the mountains of the north to the beaches of the south.

Colvin's run is called "Challenge Thailand - The Run for the Children", and is aimed at highlighting the worldwide problem of child prostitution, a subject which deeply disturbs him. "Children deserve protection from perverts", he says. "The world must address this subject more effectively. Only a handful of countries are active at enforcing laws which are mainly inadequate".

It was seventeen months ago in Saudi Arabia, where he is employed as a consultant to the Royal Saudi Naval Forces, that Colvin began preparations for the marathon run. He trained in the searing heat of the Arabian desert near Jeddah before coming to Thailand to commence the 'Challenge' last November 22nd at Mae Sai on the northern Thai border with Burma. Raised in the dairy farming community of Kansas in the northeast of Oklahoma state, Colvin graduated with an associates degree in criminal justice in 1973 then joined the US Navy to whom he gave over 16 years active service.

He has served on submarines, as a diver, and with special boat units and currently holds the rank of lieutenant commander in the US Naval Reserve. Since completing active navy duty in 1991, Colvin has lived both in Thailand and Saudi Arabia. His first contact with Thailand was in 1984 while the US Navy Special Warfare Unit in the Philippines, when he was assigned to train the Royal Thai Navy at Sattahip on the Gulf Of Thailand. He fell in love with the country and now regards it as his second home. Colvin is divorced with two daughters; Tina who lives in St. Louis, Missouri, and Cassie who lives in Washington, DC. His mother, Peggy, still lives in Kansas, Oklahoma, close to his four brothers and a sister. He has another sister living in St. Paul, Minnesota. Colvin was full of praise for the Thai people. "They have been supportive and generous. The National Police Force has been a great help. I shall always remember this run, and pray that some good will come from it." He also thanked his support team from Thailand and Britain. "We've been through the rough and the smooth together. Let's party!"

From: Ian Cruickshank - Press Officer - CHALLENGE THAILAND