What began as one woman’s decision to take better care of her health grew into a team of nearly 175 people running together through the streets of Bangkok.
On July 5, Landmark staff members, program leaders and graduates participated as a team in the Bangkok Bridge to Bridge running event, completing distances of 2K, 7K, 10K and 21K. Together, they contributed 141,600 Thai baht to support the Thai Red Cross—and received the event’s trophy for the largest participating group.
Yet the real accomplishment was not simply the number of people who registered or the distance they covered. It was the community they created along the way.
One Commitment Becomes a Shared Game
The project began with Kunthida Thamsungoen, the Registration Manager for the Bangkok Center, and her personal commitment to become healthier.
“It started from me,” she explained. “I personally wanted to run, so I first invited the staff members.”
Kunthida created a conversation among the staff about well-being, health and beginning a new era together. People responded enthusiastically and began registering for the event.
Then she learned that the organizers would recognize the largest registered team. Rather than treating the award as something that might happen, she transformed it into a game everyone could play together: Could the Bangkok Landmark community create the largest team at the event?
The staff began enrolling program leaders and graduates, and the group continued to grow. What started as one person wanting to run ultimately brought together nearly 175 participants, including Jeep Thangkittisuwan – Landmark’s Forum Leader in Thailand.
Three Months of Preparation
The team registered approximately three months before the race, giving participants time to prepare together.
For many, running was unfamiliar. Some had never exercised regularly or developed the habit of getting up early to work out. Team members began meeting during the week in Bangkok’s public parks, encouraging one another to train and continue.
“It created a new habit for us, and also a new community,” Kunthida said.
The preparation became about much more than building endurance. People who normally related to one another through work, responsibilities and accountabilities began developing a new kind of partnership.
They met as people taking care of their health, confronting the same doubts and supporting one another in keeping their commitments.
Kunthida experienced the difference personally. She became stronger, could run farther and developed greater discipline around exercise. Even while working with a demanding schedule, she discovered that she could still get up in the morning and run.
She was also moved by what the people around her began discovering about themselves.
One person thanked Kunthida for creating the project and told her, “I experienced that I am someone who can do it. I am capable. When is the next one!?”
“Do Not Surrender to Your Little Voice”
The team chose a message for the back of their running shirts:
อย่าแพ้เสียงในหัว
“Don’t let the voice in your head defeat you.”
It was a reminder, familiar to people who have participated in The Landmark Forum.
On race day, that message reached far beyond the Landmark team.
One runner who was not part of the group later told them that she had been close to giving up. Running behind a Landmark team member, she read the words on the shirt and decided to keep going.
Another runner shared a similar experience on TikTok, saying that the message helped her continue all the way to the finish line.
For Kul, that became one of the most inspiring parts of the entire experience. The same words that encouraged strangers also expressed the challenge she and her teammates had taken on personally: hearing the voice that says to stop—and choosing to keep going.
Running for Something Larger
The event also gave the team an opportunity to contribute beyond themselves. One hundred percent of the funds connected to their participation went to the Thai Red Cross.
Together, the group contributed 141,600 Thai baht.
The combination of personal well-being and service gave the project a larger purpose. Participants were not only becoming healthier or accomplishing an individual goal. They were doing it together while supporting an organization that serves people throughout Thailand.
The logistics of the race demanded commitment as well. Because of Bangkok’s heat, the longest-distance runners began at approximately 2:30 in the morning with other distances starting long before sunlight as well.
By the time the races were over, social media was filled with the team’s postings. Kunthida joked that before she had time to post about the event herself, members of the community had filled social media with their own celebrations.
A New Kind of Partnership
Kunthida said the experience changed the relationships among staff members, program leaders and graduates. In addition to working together and fulfilling their responsibilities, they had created a partnership grounded in taking care of one another.
For her, health is directly connected to her commitment to contribute.
“I want to be a staff member until I turn 80,” she said. “In order for me to be a staff member at the age of 80, I need to be strong.”
Running has become part of being able to remain active, serve others and continue making a difference for years to come.
The team’s preparation demonstrated what can happen when people pursue their individual well-being inside a community committed to everyone succeeding.
From One Race to 1,000 Runners
The finish line was not the end of the project.
The experience has led to the creation of the Landmark Run Club, an informal community of more than 100 people from the Landmark community in Bangkok who communicate about where and when they plan to run and invite others to join them.
And Kunthida has already declared the next challenge.
When she accepted the trophy for the largest team, she announced that the group would return to the Thai Red Cross event in 2027—with at least 1,000 runners.
It is an ambitious leap from the personal commitment that started it all. But Kunthida and the Bangkok community have already demonstrated how quickly one person’s stand can become a shared possibility.
Now, they are inviting an even larger community to keep going—and not surrender to the little voice that says it cannot be done.