Tracksmith and the community – AW

An exclusive Q&A with Tracksmith’s London Community Manager – Amritpal Ghatora

Community is centre to Tracksmith and Amritpal Ghatora leads its outreach in London.

From becoming an ambassador for Tracksmith last year to leading community activations like the Amateur Mile and Twilight 5000, Ghatora opens up to AW about his journey and why inclusivity is so important.

How did you get involved with Tracksmith and what’s the benefit of having such an amazing place like Trackhouse in London?

I got involved in the summer of 2022 off the back of the pandemic. I transitioned from engineering into the running industry and it was a complete 180° more than anything! I was coaching at the time and I got approached to become an ambassador for Tracksmith first and foremost. During that time, I coached a couple of the long runs for Tracksmith during the summer for their 100 Days to London programme.

It was the first footprint of Tracksmith coming into London and expanding out of the US as we looked to become a global brand with an access point in London. The long runs were located out of Battersea where we did a 10-week programme, in the build-up to the 2022 London Marathon. That was the first starting point of group runs in London.

I then saw Tracksmith were hiring for a community manager to help facilitate their growth in the UK and harness the community from the Trackhouse in Marylebone once it was ready. Everything happens for a reason, some time later, here we are over a year later in that role!

How have you found being Community Manager for Tracksmith in London?

To be honest I don’t see it as work! It’s been an incredible experience, it’s a passion, whether we’ve taken someone who’s brand new to running or a person who is more experienced. We want people to come here and feel like they’re cared for. Running is a very simplistic sport and it doesn’t need to be overcomplicated. As long as we get people through the door and they feel it’s inclusive then it will continue to grow in a healthy way. Runners deserve better and that overarching motto drives a lot of the work we do.

We’ve had massive growth throughout the year and we have set up a really great baseline structure so it does give people opportunities to train for specific races or try track or cross country for the first time. So those pillars provide great access points for people to get into running. Those key elements throughout the year are big city specific brand moments…