As principal sponsor, SPAR once again had a good presence at the event with the SPAR logo visible on athletes’ number bibs, track boards and media backdrops. There was an overwhelming interest from media with television, print and online channels all represented onsite.
The event was broadcast live with over 452 hours of TV coverage aired by 29 national broadcasters. On the BBC in the UK, the 2019 event generated 17.66 million viewer hours. Additionally, through a pan-European channel, 54 countries in Europe were able to enjoy the competition, which meant fantastic, far reaching brand exposure for SPAR. The online coverage across many different platforms also ensured that fans all around the world were able to follow the competition and experience the excitement and phenomenal moments of sporting excellence.
SPAR Sports Club
Over the three days of competition, the SPAR Sports Club at the Emirates Arena was buzzing with activity and saw over 1,000 people participate in the popular ‘Beat the Elite’ speed challenge. The aim of the challenge was to not only complete as many jumps as possible in a 20 second time limit, but to also try and hit the top speeds of some of the professional athletes.
With elite athletes hitting speeds of around 32-38 km/h for the sprinters, and between 20-25 km/h for the distance runners, participants were pushing themselves to the limits. Most of those under 18 managed to reach speeds of between 8-16 km/h, while a handful of those over 18 crept up to 24 km/h. In total, all those who took part clocked up nearly 60 km of sprinting.
Crowds of spectators stopped by to cheer on the willing participants, as nearly 1,000 SPAR branded bags and flyers were handed out, along with fresh apples from a local store.
