Parkrun's model continues to attract interest from sponsors
Leeds Building Society is the latest brand to agree a commercial partnership with Parkrun as the free mass participation running series continues to broaden its sponsorship dealings off the back of strong global growth.
The three-year deal will see Leeds Building Society collaborate with Parkrun UK to help continue the growth in participation levels and increase community engagement across the UK.
The partnership was negotiated by Pitch Marketing Group, which will be delivering the ongoing activation campaign.
It follows on from insurance provider Vitality announcing a title sponsorship deal with Parkrun UK earlier this year.
The commercial deals will not only help the organisation continue to grow, but ensure the 2k and 5k runs remain free for all participants.
Nikki Marsh, Leeds Building Society’s director of customer and digital, described the deal as a true collaboration between two like-minded organisations.
She said: “Like us, Parkrun was set up to improve the lives of its members and through our partnership, we’ll be helping more people get involved and supporting projects and programmes that we believe will bring a lasting benefit to those involved, our members and their wider communities, as well as helping ensure Parkrun stays free to everyone”.
Nick Pearson, Parkrun chief executive added: “Working with such a well-established and nationwide organisation will help us reach out to more communities and help bring more people together, as well as ensuring Parkrun stays free for everyone forever.”
Since its creation in 2004 in London, the running organisation has gone on to establish over 155,000 events across 14 countries and has saw over one million people in the UK take part in a run.
Parkrun’s use of cutting-edge software and timing technology has created an accessible and nonthreatening communal event that is proving attractive to brands.