July’s easing of restrictions meant that mass participation events could finally return. An industry that was hit incredibly hard during the pandemic was quick to make up for lost time, with events such as the Threshold Trail Series one of the first events to welcome back participants ready to challenge themselves both physically and mentally.
But given that we’re edging ever closer to September and the last quarter of the year, race organisers and support staff will soon begin turning their attention to 2022 and making sure their events are a real celebration of the return of mass participation events.
As an agency that specialises in amplifying sporting events through expert, targeted PR support, we couldn’t be more delighted that mass participation events are back. With this in mind, we’ve previewed four major sport event providers that have challenges scheduled to take place next year.
Founded by Ben de Rivaz with one simple goal, to bring the extraordinary sport of swimrun to the UK.
Breca is a series of extreme swimrun adventure events located in some of the UK’s most challenging landscapes that participants take on with their friend by their side. Imagine a sport that takes you to locations such as running over craggy hilltops, along rugged coastlines and through icy-cold lakes and seas.
The Breca brand has grown at an exceptional rate with event locations in the UK, New Zealand and Canada so far and are currently crowdfunding to aid their vision of building the largest series of swimrun races in the world by 2023.
A little-known fact, the word ‘Breca’ is a character from the Old English epic poem Beowulf. In this poem, Breca and Beowulf are old friends whose only way of escaping danger is by swimming together for seven days and seven nights through an icy, windswept sea.
For Breca the brand this symbolises what the event should be about, sharing a unique journey with a friend, battling against the elements.
London based Action Challenge believe events are about more than reaching the summit or crossing the finish line. It’s about participants discovering what they can truly achieve and pushing themselves past what they might have previously thought was impossible.
From 50km walking trail events to a chilly winter walk through London taking in all the sights, Action Challenge has over 40 events and adventures across the UK, Europe and Africa to choose from.
With so many events to choose from it’s tough to select just one but the Isle of Wight Challenge on the 1st weekend of May looks like a fantastic opportunity to take in the island’s stunning coastal paths, cliffs and beaches.
Known for their ability to create extraordinary events regardless of the budget. Threshold Sports are one of the UK’s premier sport event providers. Since the company’s inception in 2008, their ethos has always remained the same, We Believe More Is In You.
Threshold’s portfolio of events has seen them put on 5k walks to gruelling nine-day cycling challenges that take participants from Land’s End to John O’Groats.
Threshold Sports are also behind the Threshold Trail Series, four challenges that combine the best-loved endurance events in the UK. These events are open to all participants regardless of ability.
What started out as two friends simply trying to swim the Henley regatta course, has snowballed into a fully-fledged festival of swimming that aims to bring participants together regardless of their ability or objective.
When the event made its debut in 2008, it attracted nearly 100 swimmers to take part in the 2.1km upstream challenge. Fast-forward to the present and Henley Swim puts on four events over the course of the summer which differ depending on distance and objectives. For those who are looking for an extreme challenge, The Thames Marathon is an endurance swim between Henley-on-Thames and Marlow. Whilst the Club to Pub provides participants with the opportunity to swim to the pub on a Saturday night.
If you’d like to find out more on how a range of PR tactics could help deliver more participants to your events get in touch with us.
