The Guam Ko'ko' Road Race was created by the Guam Visitors Bureau 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 detractors. 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 Guam Rail also thrives in 17 zoos in the U.S. mainland, but the most exciting news is that the ko’ko’ has been successfully re-released into the wild with successful reproduction back in November 2010 on Cocos Island in Guam. It is these efforts that the Guam Visitors Bureau plans to continue supporting through the net proceeds of the Guam Ko’ko’ Road Race.