All eyes will be on London this weekend for the biggest annual fundraising event in the world. Imagine being a part of making this huge event the enormous success it is every year. It all depends on fabulously talented event managers to make sure the whole thing doesn’t grind to a halt.
A spectacular show of physical endurance
The 2015 Marathon had over 37,000 registrants. Consider also the big name sponsors and their PR interest. Add in the countless charities and their supporters who benefit from the fundraising and of course the thousands of spectators who bring their tourism to London.
The event is a platform for the athletic ambition of thousands of runners, who’ve trained for this moment. Your role is to make it possible for them to achieve their wildest dreams in an international event. The runners will be pushing themselves to the limits of what they can do. This and the resulting public attention is what attracts sponsors like Addidas and Virgin Money.
Supporting charities who need it most
Equally important are the charities who support runners to raise funds. Each charity involved will have its own cheering stations and will look after its own runners. Charities like
Tommy’s want to cheer on their runners to achieve their personal bests. Charities are also keen to support individual runners with increasing their sponsorship funds, as well as taking the opportunity to raise awareness of the charity’s aims.
The London Marathon is a huge event in the calendar for many charities, with a great opportunity to increase funds and generate PR.
But I’m just an event manager among heroes and charities …
The London Marathon is an event management dream: imagine simply the logistics of providing enough water along the route for the day. It involves liaising with the sponsor providing water (currently Buxton) or finding funds to purchase water, mapping the water stations needed, delivery, volunteers and marshals to manage the water stations.
That is just one tiny part of the day, and it requires a huge amount of co-ordination and a clear vision to pull it together so it all works. Multiply that up to looking after the sponsors, the charities, the runners, an army of press & PR and of course the spectators.
Sound like the
kind of job you might like to get stuck into yet?
