Blue Planet Run athletes and staff stay connected with Skype

Mill Valley, Calif., August 1, 2007 – Runners circumnavigating the globe this summer for the Blue Planet Run are staying connected with friends and family everywhere thanks to Skype, the global Internet communications company.

The inaugural 2007 Blue Planet Run, an event made possible by the generous support of The Dow Chemical Company, launched from the United Nations in New York City on June 1. Since then, the team of 21 international citizen athletes has traveled relay-style 24 hours a day, seven days a week, through Ireland, England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, Poland, Belarus, Russia, Mongolia, China and Japan. Enduring some of the world’s most diverse terrains, the runners have faced tough conditions, from navigating the crowded streets of Prague to swatting flies through the Gobi Desert. The Run concludes in New York City on September 4.

The Blue Planet Run is raising money to fund water projects that will bring safe drinking water to some of the 1.2 billion people who currently live without it. According to the Blue Planet Run Foundation (BPRF), the nonprofit group organizing the Run, a $30 donation through the Blue Planet Run’s website, www.blueplanetrun.org, can bring one person safe drinking water for life.

Skype has equipped all Blue Planet Runners and Run staff members with SkypeIn™ numbers, allowing them to receive calls from landlines or mobile phones on their computers, no matter where they are located. Skype has also provided Runners and Run staff with Skype Credit so they can use SkypeOut™ to call landline and mobile phone numbers from anywhere they have a broadband Internet connection.

Additionally, Skype and Logitech have donated Logitech® webcams and headsets to Runners and Run staff, enabling them to make free Skype-to-Skype video and voice calls with friends and family back home.

“Staying connected with those you love while on the road for three months is one of the biggest obstacles the Blue Planet Runners and staff face,” said Matt Kursh, CEO of BPRF. “Skype provides a terrific solution, by making it easy for anyone to make and receive voice and video calls anywhere, whether they’re in Berlin, Moscow, Tokyo or somewhere in between.”

Anyone can use Skype simply by downloading free Skype software from skype.com. Making voice and video calls to other Skype users is free. Calling traditional phones with Skype generally costs pennies a minute. Assigning a phone number to a Skype account (so those calling from traditional phones can reach that Skype user) costs $18 for three months and $60 for one year. Skype also allows a host of other ways to stay connected, including voicemail, conference calls, instant messaging and file transfers.

About Blue Planet Run Foundation
The Blue Planet Run Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to raising global awareness about the need for safe drinking water and funding working solutions today for the billion people living without water.

The U.S.-based foundation connects nongovernmental organizations worldwide with funding and promotes operational sustainability. The foundation’s signature awareness and fund-raising event is the Blue Planet Run, the first-ever around-the-world relay.

For more information about Blue Planet Run Foundation, or to make a donation, please visit http://www.blueplanetrun.org.

Blue Planet Run is a registered trademark of Blue Planet Run Foundation.