The inaugural Guam Ko’ko’ Road Race was hosted by the Guam Visitors Bureau in 2006 as a 20K individual and 4-person Ekiden Relay, in an effort to garner increased interest in the island by international athletes but more importantly, to bring attention to the plight of Guam’s territorial bird, the Guam Rail or Ko’ko’ bird. The Ko’ko’ is a flightless bird, endemic to Guam, whose numbers have been decimated to near extinction by the brown tree snake, pesticides and other predators. Efforts to save the Ko’ko’ from extinction are ongoing and in 1995 a hundred Ko’ko’ birds were released on Rota, the Mariana Island just north of Guam, where there are no snakes.

The 2010 Guam Ko’ko’ Road Race is a half marathon (13.1 miles or 21.0975 kilometres) and a 4-person Ekiden Relay (consisting of legs of 3.24m (5.38km), 3.2m (5.15km), 3.2m (5.15km) and 3.36m (5.41km)). Exchange Points 1 & 3 will be located on Marine Corps Drive, East Agana (close to Citibank) and Exchange Point 2 will be located on Marine Corps Drive, Asan (at the entrance into the village of Asan just before the turnaround point).

The race course begins (and ends) at Governor Joseph Flores Memorial Park (Ypao Beach Park) with a hill climb and rolling slopes for the first two kilometres. The next fifteen kilometres is relatively flat as it winds its way through the residential village of Tamuning and along the West coast main thoroughfare, Marine Corps Drive. The terrain remains level into the capital city of Hagåtña with the turnaround point just inside the village of Asan. Runners will enjoy scenic ocean views, running on a road only feet from pristine white sandy beaches and sparkling turquoise ocean water for the majority of the course.

The Guam Ko'ko' Road Race was awarded the Sports Tourism Award from The Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Sport in 2009.