The inaugural European Running Business Conference was staged in Frankfurt, Germany on 27-28 October in collaboration with the Mainova Frankfurt Marathon which took place on 29 October.
The first edition was widely considered a palpable success with 99% of participants either strongly agreeing - or agreeing - the conference was a valuable and worthwhile experience. Likewise, 99% of participants would also recommend attending the next European Running Business Conference to colleagues and relevant stakeholders.
“We are already looking towards 2019 to be a major success, making this conference a must-attend event for the running movement,” said European Athletics vice president Jean Gracia.
Some 282 participants from 48 countries gathered in Frankfurt for the two-day event for a programme of keynote speeches, breakout groups and Q&A sessions with industry experts.
“The European Running Business Conference came about because there was a feeling we had this huge running community but we needed a place to gather and discuss our common interest and our common business - running,” said Danish Athletics Federation president Jakob Larsen, who was heavily involved with the planning and promotion of the conference.
The second edition of the European Running Business Conference is due to take place in 2019 and the selection process has already started with the successful venue set to be announced in mid-December.
“We were absolutely delighted with the overwhelmingly positive feedback from participants who attended the first European Running Business Conference in Frankfurt and we are pleased that cities and races have already come forward and expressed an interest in staging the event in 2019,” said European Athletics president Svein Arne Hansen, who opened proceedings in Frankfurt.
“The European Running Business Conference attracted key stakeholders in the running industry not just from Europe - but from around the world - and I’m sure there will be even more participants in 2019 now the word is out.”
Cities and races interested in staging the 2019 European Running Business Conference should contact [email protected].