Parkrun – the organiser of free, weekly, 5K timed runs around the world – has forged a new partnership with online multisport retailer Wiggle. This latest deal, which was confirmed yesterday by e-mail to the parkrun family of runners, volunteers and supporters, sees the opening of a new online store. This will provide a range of parkrun branded items for people to buy.
A lengthy e-mail from parkrun founder Paul Sinton-Hewitt explained this new approach for parkrun in full. He started by reflecting on the need for change.
“For ten years I’ve worked hard to protect the things we all love about parkrun,” said Sinton-Hewitt. “My promise is that parkrun will always be free and welcoming to all participants. That promise holds as true today as it ever has.”
He added, “However, we cannot be naive as to think that parkrun can continue growing as it is without significant income… The fact is, running 500+ runs across ten countries every week does require resources… to keep everything running smoothly, and to maintain the format we have come to expect. Staff, support for our events, permissions, IT… they all cost money. What’s more, as we grow, the resource requirements and constraints placed on us grow, too.
“As a not for profit company, every penny we make is put back into parkrun and goes towards delivering our events in some way or another. However, just like any other commercial company, we do have to balance our books. And the bigger parkrun gets, the harder that becomes.”
Running around the world
The first ever parkrun event was held in Bushy Park in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, in October 2004. It was comprised of 13 parkrun pioneers and four volunteers. From its origins in the UK, parkrun has since expanded to a number of countries, giving it an increasingly international reach:
- Australia
- Denmark
- Ireland
- New Zealand
- Poland
- Russia
- South Africa
- UK
- USA
Commercial partners
To date, parkrun has tied-up with a variety of commercial organisations to ensure that it had sufficient resources to keep the company going. These companies have typically been brought on board as sponsors, and parkrun has offered them certain rights in return for the cash provided.
Although the company notes that, while some countries have been quite successful in finding sponsors, in others it has been very difficult. This has meant that parkrun has ‘not been successful establishing a firm financial standing in every country.’
Run to the [online] shops
To support its income flow going forwards, parkrun is branching into online shopping. As Paul Sinton-Hewitt outlined, “While this is a commercial opportunity for parkrun, every penny earned in our shop will go back into parkrun – providing much needed income to each of the parkrun countries, which in turn will complement our ability to support the local communities.
“I anticipate this will further reduce the reliance on [existing] commercial partners and help to secure our financial future.
“As well as our online shop, we have also chosen an online partner who we believe can service every one of our countries. And we are delighted to say that this partner is Wiggle, already a giant in the online retail industry. Many of you will have used Wiggle before and will have experienced the excellent service they provide.”
Paul Sinton-Hewitt elaborated on Wiggle’s role. He said, “While Wiggle is not a parkrun sponsor, we are working in partnership with them at a global level to ensure we have our own range of bespoke parkrun branded goods available for sale in every region possible. Our goal is to provide good quality items but at prices that families can afford. We do not want anyone in the parkrun family to feel left out.”
Wiggle has agreed to pass on all the net profit from its retail sales under the parkrun partnership. This will be reinvested by parkrun to support its sustenance and growth.
The future role for parkrun founding partner Sweatshop may be unclear; particularly as the parkrun online store, in partnership with online retailer Wiggle, expands in the months and years ahead. Sweatshop is currently an ongoing sponsor of parkrun in the UK and is parkrun’s official UK retailer.
Economies of scale
As the retail landscape irons itself out, it does appear that the deal between Wiggle and parkrun strengthens the hand of both parties. Through Wiggle, parkrun is able to ensure international fulfilment of retail orders and will maximise its buying power for all products sold via the parkrun store. The channelling of retail profits back into parkrun will also bolster the organisation’s finances as it continues to spread internationally.
Meanwhile, Wiggle should also benefit significantly. Even if it passes on the net profit from sales via the parkrun online store, it will gain in cross-selling to the ever expanding parkrun audience. Also, it should be noted that parkrunners don’t just run. There are many thousands who use parkruns to train for other endurance events, such as obstacle races and triathlons.
By tapping into the parkrun community, Wiggle could broaden its reach to a significant audience of consumers. At the time of writing, parkrun encompassed almost 45,000 events and over 750,000 runners had taken on a parkrun.
www.parkrun.com
www.wiggle.co.uk/parkrun/
