• Alzheimer’s Research UK and The Running Bee Foundation confirmed as beneficiary charities of fundraiser at The Running Conference 2022
• SportsGiving confirmed as the Official Fundraising Platform at The Running Conference 2022
Following the previous announcement of the “Running Celebration Evening: In honour of Dr Ron Hill MBE, Memory Lane Evening” taking place at The Running Conference 2022, Running Industry Alliance (RIA) is proud to confirm that two charities will benefit from the industry fundraiser on the Monday evening (12th December).
Alzheimer’s Research UK and The Running Bee Foundation have been announced as the two beneficiary charities, both with links to the late Dr Ron Hill. SportsGiving, the standalone fundraising platform from leading race entry provider RaceNation, has been confirmed as the official fundraising platform.
The “Running Celebration Evening: In honour of Dr Ron Hill MBE, Memory Lane Evening” has been organised as part of The Running Conference 2022 this December and is hosted by Running Industry Alliance and Ronhill in memory of Ron Hill MBE.
Taking place on Monday 12th December, the evening event will celebrate and honour the life and the achievements of Ron Hill with a showcase of a private collection of memorabilia, with items of Ron’s that may never have been seen before.
The Running Conference attendees will also be offered a unique Ron Hill Memorabilia technical t-shirt in exchange for a charity donation. The special edition technical t-shirt will feature a print by artist and painter Brian Donnelly, based on an iconic photo taken at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh where Ron Hill won the Marathon in 2:09:28.
Brian, who was a young boy at the time and feet away from Ron Hill breasting the tape on trackside when his running icon won the Marathon, has recreated the photo into a one-off original oil painting that, amongst other items, will be offered as a prize in a raffle on the night to raise valuable funds for Alzheimer’s Research UK and The Running Bee Foundation through SportsGiving. This unique print will also feature on the 200 Ronhill technical t-shirts especially commissioned by Ronhill for the Memory Lane Evening.
Dr Ron Hill MBE (1938 – 2021) founded Ronhill in September 1970, five months after becoming the first Briton to win the Boston Marathon in a record time of 2:10:30. Ron became the second man to break 2:10 in the marathon, laid claim to the marathon world record and ran two Olympic Marathons to name just some of his many outstanding running achievements.
Co-Leads Rebecca Richardson and Jonathan Midwood from RIA said: “We are proud to host this special ‘legend’ evening with Ronhill at The Running Conference, and to support two amazing charities with this industry fundraiser on the Monday night. We can’t wait to all get together to celebrate and honour the life and the achievements of Dr Ron Hill MBE and to raise funds for Alzheimer’s Research UK and The Running Bee Foundation through the SportsGiving platform.
“A big thank you goes to Ronhill, the charities, SportsGiving and to the artist Brian Donnelly for recreating that iconic photo into a one-off original oil painting.”
Will Golder, CEO of SportsGiving said: “Since our inception in 2014 we have committed to bring new and innovative technology to the hands of event organisers and charities through our RaceNation // SportsGiving platforms. We are delighted that SportsGiving can form part of this event as the official fundraising platform in aid of Alzheimer’s Research UK and The Running Bee Foundation.
“We are looking forward to the evening and to meeting everyone throughout The Running Conference next month.”
The fundraising link will be shared with all attendees of The Running Conference prior to the evening.
Running Industry Alliance (RIA) is an independent National Trade Organisation built for the UK & Ireland Running Industry with the aim to collectively help its Members to drive the Running Industry forward to improve the Sport and Business of Running.
The RIA Members-only The Running Conference takes place at Loughborough University from 11th to 13th December 2022 with attendees from the running industry’s different sectors including brands, retailers, distributors, events, media, communities, charities, NGB, service providers, and more. The conference is capped at a maximum of 280 attendees for 2022.
The theme of The Running Conference is “Impactful Collaborations” with a focus around connecting, supporting, educating, sharing, amplifying and growing.
The Running Conference details released so far are here: www.runningindustryalliance.com/conference/
More details about RIA membership can be found on the website for anyone wanting to join now and be at The Running Conference #TRC22 .
RIA Members and Alliance Partners can be viewed here: www.runningindustryalliance.com/foundation-members/
For further details about the Running Industry Alliance, membership and all other info please go to www.runningindustryalliance.com and follow the LinkedIn open company page.