As founders of Runlimited, it was incredibly exciting to see our vision brought to life for 5 days over the London Marathon week.
We managed to build a shop in less than 12 hours, opening the doors bright and early on Wednesday 17th April. Not far from the marathon finish line, we found ourselves in a bubble of marathon excitement, with people visiting from London and overseas.
Wednesday night marked the launch, a powered by Hylo Athletics, we headed out to Run Together. Run Together is our why. We think things are better when you do them together. It represents our mission to connect people through running and it felt important for us to launch with a run connecting different run clubs and individuals. We followed the run with a panel, hosted by Esmeé founder of The Say Yes Club, who chatted to Pete from Refugee Run Club, Michael (co-founder of Hylo Athletics), and the incredible athlete Mae.
Thursday we celebrated SOAR, putting on a race toe RECLAIM LONDON. Unsanctioned Athletics x Soar x Runlimited race was a thrilling 10km dash from Soar HQ in Shoreditch to our pop-up store. As runners crossed the finish line, the buzz along Berwick Street was incredible, punctuated by an incredible DJ set by Tim Soar.
Friday focussed on Adidas, a sold-out night centred around the marathon and their race shoes. We headed out to St James's Park to test the adizero range with a 5km run before looping back to hear professional athletes Charlotte Purdue and Adam Clarke share insights into their experiences. The evening was topped off with delicious pasta party cooked up by NOMEATDISCO (Sam Jones) and friends.
Satisfy joined us on Saturday morning to shakeout those pre-race nerves, followed by a hangout back at the Run Hub with vegan pastries and coffee from our friends and Origin. At midday the Satisfy Repossessed Workshop kicked off, people queued up to get their marathon tees transformed into cherished keepsakes.
An amazing week, it's so nice to see communities coming together!
When race day arrived, Runlimited opened its doors once more to celebrate the achievements of every runner. We live-streamed the race from the store, allowing those passing by to enjoy the buzz of the race from afar. Post race the pop-up store became hangout spot for the running community, with friends, family and runners joining us to celebrate the week.
