Running and the art of ‘Method PR’

We’re pretty passionate about sport here at Right Lines, so we absolutely love working on the various races organised by Events of the North, the company set up by athletics legend Steve Cram. As well as managing the PR campaigns for the growing roster of events, Chris also likes to walk the walk (or more accurately, run the run) and participates in as many of the events as he can, purely for the purpose of insight of course! He calls it ‘Method PR’.

In the last few weeks, we’ve thoroughly enjoyed being involved in two new events on the North East sporting calendar, the extremely muddy Mestival and its 10K mud obstacle run up at Hesleyside Hall in Northumberland and the Durham City Run, with 5K and 10K races on the city streets.

Both were very distinctive events and they were really great. It was fantastic to see so many people pitting themselves against the challenges of the obstacles on the gorgeous Hesleyside estate at the start of July. The weather that day was a little variable (that’s spin for pretty awful), but that really didn’t seem to matter given that most of the obstacles involved a lot of mud or water, or both. All of the participants (including Hesleyside’s owner William Charlton and local MP Guy Opperman) seemed to really relish the challenges that Steve Cram’s son Marcus had set.

Almost three weeks later and the city of Durham hosted its first road race, on a warm Wednesday evening. The Prince Bishops Durham City Run 10K and 5K races definitely captured the imagination of the region’s runners, with over 2,000 signing up for the events. The sight of thousands of runners pounded the ancient streets of beautiful Durham was magical, especially with a finish in front of the cathedral on a World Heritage Site. Feedback from Durham has been very positive, with runners loving the races, despite the hilly course and humid conditions.

Well done to everyone involved in the new events – organisers (Steve and Events of the North have an amazing team that is completely committed to delivering great event experiences for all), the armies of volunteers, spectators and of course the participants. Here’s hoping that both events become firm fixtures on the calendar in future years. Chris is certainly hoping to be able to sustain his commitment to Method PR…

By Chris Lines