Collaboration with SportsShoes has paid dividends with events becoming more popular, regular and crucially engaging
An athletics event at a go-kart track, four levels underground below the main shopping centre at Canary Wharf, shouldn’t theoretically work.
Given the Epic Karting circuit in Docklands had an abundance of tight turns, the surface was designed for rubber tyres rather than shoes and the venue contained no natural light, the setting, was peculiar to say the least.
If you, however, add a swathe of marketing – from a myriad of photos to slick social media cutdowns – to create hype, invite one of London’s most prominent DJs and crucially award prize money – £1000 for first, £500 for second and £300 for third – for podium spots, it can definitely work.
At tonight’s @podium5k Underground event in Canary Wharf, there is live music all night 🎵
Making running really cool 🔥 pic.twitter.com/EXBbWIRQBz
— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) March 17, 2023
After covering the event last week (March 17), I got back home thinking it had.
The average age of those who attended almost certainly didn’t exceed 30. That wasn’t just the runners but those who flocked down to watch. Some might have not even known who was racing but with live music bouncing off the walls around the venue and a bar in the background, it didn’t matter.
People enjoyed themselves because the behind the scenes side of the event was as good as the action they watched.
That wasn’t to say the standard was bad. European Indoor 1500m silver medallist from 2021, Holly Archer, was the leading contender in the women’s race. She lost out to a superb Megan Davies in a close-run finish to the line.
Double British 3000m steeplechase champion Zac Seddon, coached by Geoff Wightman, claimed the plaudits in the men’s event.
Zac Seddon collects his £1k top prize (Simon Roberts)
“It was really cool. It sounded really loud with the music. There was so much noise and it was a really great atmosphere and it wasn’t like anything else I’ve seen,” Davies told AW.
“The event is completely different and I really enjoyed it. I hope so [if there are more events] and it’s changing the way the sport looks. It can be really easy to focus on times all the time so it’s really cool to come to an event where that’s not the importance.”
Seddon’s reflection of the spectacle was along the same lines.
“The atmosphere was unreal. Everyone I spoke to was just enjoying…
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