Race Report 1
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inside the report
contents The big picture
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At a glance
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in pictures
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Story of the race
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The race
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The feedback
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the volunteers
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The race village
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the expo
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supporting charity
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marketing stats
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Partners & sponsors
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Class of #RN19
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...and finally
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All feedback statistics taken from the Run Norwich 2019 runner survey (2061 respondents) and volunteer survey (204 respondents). Spectator numbers are approximations.
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“Big, friendly
and upbeat, with fantastic support and entertainment all along the route. This is the most awesome race on the calendar.
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“
Robert Quinlan
big picture
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#rn19 at a glance
, 6 199 finishers
7,500
7,500
3,800
entries
2015
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2016
2017
2018
2019
race overview
over
, ÂŁ105 000 raised for official charities
10,000 450 Over
spectators
volunteers
567 official charity runners
98.1% 97.9% would recommend Run Norwich to a friend
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rated race good or excellent
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In Pictures
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Story of the race
Record turnout as thousands enjoy fifth Run Norwich
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Race report
A record 6,199 runners completed Run Norwich on Sunday 21st July. The fifth iteration of the run, organised by the Community Sports Foundation (CSF), was the first in its new weekend slot of late July. In warm conditions, the race, which had sold out in just four days back in January, saw its largest ever starting field assemble in front of the Forum and Norwich market for the grand start. The honour of starting the race went to Stuart Webber, Norwich City Football Club’s Sporting Director. Once underway, the sea of runners swept through the 10-kilometre city centre course, passing iconic landmarks such as the Castle and Norwich Cathedral, spurred on by the passionate support from tens of thousands of spectators and over 450 volunteers. First over the line, and taking his first Run Norwich title, was 21-year-old Logan Smith from City of Norwich Athletics Club (CoNAC). Visibly emotional as he crossed the line, his time of 31:41 was a minute shy of last year’s course record set by Nick Earl. Logan was followed over the line by club mates Ben Spratling and Piers Arnold, making it a second successive 1-2-3 clean sweep for CoNAC. In the women’s race, CoNAC’s 26 year-old Iona Lake took her first title on her race debut in a time of 36:24, with fellow newcomers Rose Penfold (Fulham Running Club) and Philippa Bowden (Aldershot Farnham & District) completing the podium.
Aside from those chasing a personal best time, many were taking to the streets for their first ever organised run or running for a special cause, including over 567 runners who were representing CSF and its two other chosen official race charities: The Nancy Oldfield Trust and Headway Norfolk & Waveney. Ian Thornton, CSF’s Chief Executive, reflected on the record breaking morning: “The city came alive yesterday. It’s an incredible spectacle, and it’s humbling to see how the race has so quickly become such an important event in the city’s calendar. “We couldn’t have done it without our army of 450 volunteers. We are indebted to them, as well as our partners and supporters across the city. It’s a real
team effort, but a lot of hard work from a lot of people is always worth it when you see what Run Norwich means to people on race day.” The Foundation wishes to thank partner organisations The Forum, Norwich BID, Norwich City Council and Norwich City Football Club for their support, as well as sponsors Ashtons Legal, Computer Service Centre, Aston Shaw, Jordan Fitness, Jarrold Intersport, Skoda Robinsons, Global Clinic Norwich, ESP Merchandise, Lovell Homes, plus all of our race supporters (see pages 26-27).
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“
A super race, organisation is second to none. It’s a race that in our house will always be a whole family event. 12
“
Anna Plunkett
the race in numbers
the race Our largest ever field
WINNING TIMES
NUMBER OF FINISHERS
LOGAN SMITH CITY OF NORWICH AC
00:31:41
6,199
IONA LAKE CITY OF NORWICH AC
21%
FIRST TIME RUNNERS
00:36:24
AVERAGE FINISH TIME
01:00:08 over
10,000
litres of water used
1,700 barriers
over
2,000
official t-shirts/vests sold
6.2%
HAVE RUN ALL RUN NORWICH RACES
88
roads closed
over
900kg bananas
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atmosphere I’ve “Best experienced WORLDWIDE for a 10k…and that’s out of a lot! 14
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Paul Chamberlain
what our runners said
the feedback What our runners said...
97.9%
excellent 73% good 24.9% average 2% poor 0.1%
rated their overall race experience as good or excellent
in three words...
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1-2 supporters
33.6%
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first class support
FUN, HOT, GREAT
Three most frequently used words in runner feedback
3-4 supporters
29.9%
91.2% 39.8%
5+ supporters
18.2%
Number of supporters each runner brought with them
stayed in the city following their run
stayed in the city to shop, eat or drink
would you recommend run norwich to a friend? yes 98.1%
not sure 1.6% no 0.3%
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brilliant 10k, lovely “Acourse around the city,
and the volunteers are first class. 16
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Tom Lardner
the race makers
the volunteers The people who make race day possible
99.2% 96.6% of runners rated our volunteers and staff excellent or good
of volunteers rated their experience excellent or good
87.1%
12.1%
0.7%
0.1%
77.7%
18.9%
3.4%
0%
Excellent
Good
Average
Poor
Excellent
Good
Average
Poor
in three words...
“
“
REWARDING ENJOYABLE FUN
Most frequently used words in volunteer feedback
Would you recommend volunteering at Run Norwich to a friend? Yes 96.6% No 0.5% Not sure 2.9%
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the post-race experience
the race village Where the post-race celebrations happen...
81.6% of runners visited the Race Village after the race
Over
10,000 24 attendees
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stands
Run Norwich has the best atmosphere. Each year, it gets better and better.
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Cheryl Goymer
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the expo
Harnessing the pre-race atmosphere at The Forum
Over
5,000 attendees
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exhibitors
2
days
the pre-race experience
“ how did you rate the Rn19 expo?
The volunteers (including those giving out the numbers at the Expo) did a sterling job so encouraging and positive throughout.
Excellent 42.5%
Lizzy Guy
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Good 44.6%
Average 11.8% Poor 1.1%
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official race charities
supporting charity
567
official charity runners
, ÂŁ105 000 Over
raised for the official race charities
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marketing stats Digital clout
#RN19
#RN19
300K
website pageviews (Jan-Aug 2019)
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62
12
51
80K
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14
22
05
29
website news section pageviews (Jan-Aug 2019)
1.9m social media impressions (Jan-Aug 2019)
500k
Twitter reach over race month (July 2019)
A wide reach
#RN19
82
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18
44
12,500 48% social media followers (As of Sep 2019)
e-shots open rate (Jan-Aug 2019)
21,000 56 e-shot database size (2019)
pages in the official race magazine
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thank you to our Partners and sponsors Foulger Transport has supported Run Norwich for a number of years. It’s a great 10k event through the vibrant streets of Norwich. Sue Pye Foulger Transport
Norwich BID are proud sponsors of Run Norwich. It’s fantastic to have seen Run Norwich grow year on year and to become one of the key events in the Norwich calendar. This fantastic city wide 10k road race adds to the vibrancy of the city centre. Rachael Fretter BID
Run Norwich is now firmly embedded in the city’s calendar as a fantastic event that spectators, volunteers and runners eagerly look forward to. It shows off our city at its best both in terms of its history and also in terms of the partnerships and cooperation that are fundamental to making this event and shaping the way forward for Norwich. Congratulations to everyone involved. Roll on Run Norwich 2020. Tim Bishop The Forum
We were thrilled to be the ‘Official Physiotherapy and Soft Tissue Therapy Provider’ for the event and hope we were able to help as many of the runners as possible prepare for and recover from the run. It was great to see so many happy faces. Stuart Wardle Recover Physiotherapy
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Our fifth year of sponsorship and the event goes from strength to strength. It’s a highlight for the whole firm with our staff either running or supporting the cheer station. To see over 6,000 runners taking part is just amazing. Dave Richardson Ashton’s Legal
We were thrilled to be involved in Run Norwich again this year. The addition of our sampling van to the race village proved very popular and it was great to have the chance to meet so many of the runners in person. We hope everyone enjoyed the atmosphere as much as we did. Kathryn Roper Eat Natural
partners & sponsor feedback
We’ve been sponsoring Run Norwich from the very beginning and every year the event just gets better and better. It’s more than just a 10k run, it’s a celebration of our fine city and as such, we’re extremely proud to be a part of it. Charlie Maylin Aston Shaw
It was a privilege to sponsor Run Norwich for the third consecutive year. A great event with a great atmosphere that encapsulates the heart of Norwich. We look forward to the future of the event…Run Norwich 2020 we are ready! Caroline Marshall Global Diagnostics
Run Norwich is a spectacular event for the city and it’s been great to be a part of its growth over the past two years. The Community Sports Foundation do a fantastic job in running this 10k event which is clearly well loved by runners and their families across the region. We’ve enjoyed not only taking part in the run but meeting the incredible individuals taking part, from novices to the accomplished runners.
Zak Pitt Jordan Fitness
At Lovell we aim to support the local community as much as we possibly can and we were delighted to have sponsored this year’s Run Norwich. The day itself was such an experience and the atmosphere was fantastic, especially in the Race Village after the race. Jenny Brown Lovell
It’s great to be involved with a community event which has consistently gone from strength to strength since it started in 2015 and there’s always an incredibly positive vibe before, during and after the run, which really brings the city together! Jeremy Clarke Computer Service Centre
As a local independent, Intersport Jarrold were once again proud to sponsor this key event in the sporting calendar. Run Norwich just keeps getting better and better, supporting and inspiring the local community and promoting our fine City. Tim Shattock Intersport Jarrold
We perform nearly every week throughout the year, but all agree Run Norwich was one of our most favourite performances ever. We are very thankful the organisers and the runners for creating one of the most positive events for Norwich. Jessica Allen Rock Choir
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class of 2019
The names of our record 7,500 entrants
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runner word wall
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...and finally
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COMMUNITY SPORTS
FOUNDATION Follow us on:
@RunNorwich
Run Norwich
runnorwich
Norwich City Community Sports Foundation Norwich City FC, Carrow Road, Norwich, NR1 1JE
32www.runnorwich.co.uk / 01603 761122 / Registered charity number: 1088239