Audi: running shoes on, get set, go!

Ingolstadt, Germany – Audi is running at full speed, and so are its employees – for a whole 24 hours. On May 21 and 22 the factory site in Ingolstadt will play host to ’24 Hours of Audi’ for the second time. On the weekend of the campaign, 2,000 Audi employees from four locations will be putting on their running shoes in support of the ‘Sternstunden’ charitable project. There will also be a varied fringe program away from the actual course, to provide entertainment for friends, family, and all those who want to join in the celebrations.

There was great demand among potential participants: After just one week, all places in the ’24 Hours of Audi’ had been taken. Over 2,000 runners from Audi’s Ingolstadt, Neckarsulm, Györ and Brussels plants will be participating on the circuit covering around 2.3 kilometers. The starting signal will be given at 2 pm on Saturday, May 21 on the piazza of the Audi Forum Ingolstadt. From there, the route passes through Production, across the factory site and into the Customer Center.

Every lap will be rewarded, because for each lap completed Audi will donate five euros to ‘Sternstunden e.V.’, an organization that supports children and young people in need. “I am proud of my production team, which created this event for the whole of Audi and is now holding it for the second time. In running, too, we can demonstrate what we are all capable of. After all, the basis of all success is a motivated team – and in our case, that motivation is very high,” emphasized Frank Dreves, Member of the Board of Management for Production at AUDI AG and patron of the 24-hour run. “In 2009 we raised 100,000 euros with our run,” he recalled. “That’s the target we now aim to beat.”

Works Council Chairman Peter Mosch, also a patron of the event, is likewise delighted at the high number of participants: “It’s really great that so many Audi employees are taking part in the 24-hour run. They are demonstrating all the essential qualities of the Audi workforce: team spirit, sportsmanship and a commitment to good causes. In creating the ’24 Hours of Audi’, the production team has created a worthwhile event that is a wonderful blend of solidarity and fun.

Along with ‘Sternstunden’, four other designated causes will be supported: a home for street children in Sao Paolo with links to Ingolstadt’s Franciscan convent, the ‘Sternstunden’ breakfast at four Ingolstadt elementary schools for disadvantaged children, the children’s circus ‘Trau Dich’ from Munich-Freimann (through which an association promoting friendship between foreigners and Germans helps children in asylum-seekers’ homes) and a midwife who attends to the needs of poor families from Ingolstadt.

The funds will be raised by 122 teams each comprising a maximum of 20 runners. Audi DTM driver Rahel Frey and racing drivers Martin Tomczyk and Edoard Mortara will also be looking to give a good account of themselves on this ‘racetrack’ with a difference. Other participants of note include Audi CFO Axel Strotbek, Peter Mosch, Chairman of the General Works Council of Audi, and the Ingolstadt Plant Manager Peter Kössler, who is also the third patron of the ’24 Hours of Audi’.

The ‘24 Hours of Audi’ will be an enjoyable and entertaining occasion for friends, family and anyone else who wishes to come along and join in the fun. For example, children can try out the bungee run. Bayern 3 radio presenter Katja Wunderlich will be hosting the program on the piazza stage. Live music from throughout the region and the comedian Matze Knop will help to create a festive atmosphere on the Saturday afternoon.

In the early evening the Bayern 3 Band will be playing chart hits to ratchet up the party mood, from 9 pm the London-based band ‘Scouting For Girls’ will be getting the Piazza rocking and from 10 pm DJ PyRo takes over in the Customer Center. Next up is a traditional Bavarian breakfast of white sausages at 9 am on the Sunday morning. The Audi-staffed ‘P-Band’ will be providing the right acoustic backdrop. From 11.30 am, ‘Donikkl und die Weißwürschtl’ will be providing entertainment for young and old with their hit ‘Fliegerlied’ and other party songs.

The campaign weekend draws to a close at 2 pm on Sunday, May 22. By then, the Audi employees will have covered hundreds of laps and every single one will have been worthwhile – because each lap will have helped provide special moments for children in need.

’24 Hours of Audi’ – the fringe program at a glance
Saturday, May 21, 2011:

1 pm: Lightyears

2 pm: Starting signal

3 pm: Comedian Matze Knop

4.30 pm: RasDashaN

6.30 pm: Booze Bros.

8 pm: Bayern 3 Band

9 pm: Scouting For Girls

From 10 pm: Party in Customer Center

Sunday, May 22, 2011:

9 am: Breakfast with P-Band

11.30 am: Donikkl und die Weißwürschtl

2 pm: Official finish