Zug, Switzerland / Zagreb, Croatia — Infront is expanding its corporate running series B2Run to Croatia, having acquired on Wednesday the Croatian company running series MAGENTA 1 B2B RUN. The running series was taken over from VETTURELLI and is considered Croatia's first business run as well as the biggest after-work event in the country. The series will feature four races between May and September under the lead of Croatian sports marketing & management agency Swim Bike Run Sport. The corporate runs will take place in four Croatian cities – Split, Rijeka, Osijek and Zagreb – with the first race planned for 10 May 2018 in Split.
The four races, under the B2B RUN brand for the 2018 season, will be renamed to B2Run in 2019 to further enhance the company's strong international presence.The agreement also gives Infront the opportunity to take over the B2B Run event in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina).
B2B RUN has built its success on a similar format to B2Run. The races feature 5 km long runs and have consistently grown over the years from one race in 2015 to four races in 2017. Last year's event saw more than 6,500 employees involved and is forecast to reach 8,500 participants in 2018. "Looking to expand B2Run to Croatia through this acquisition represents a major milestone for us. We can see that Vetturelli has done a great work in the last few years and we are convinced that under the B2Run brand and thanks to the expertise of Swim Bike Run Sports, the Croatian running series will grow even bigger", said Lars Gerling, Managing Director of Infront B2RunDijana Vetturelli, CEO of VETTURELLI added: "Building the corporate run in Croatia was an interesting experience, yet it was time to go back to our basics and help the companies on their transformational journey. So, we are happy to hand over this race to Infront, who has developed a great experience in corporate runs with B2Run. We are sure that they will manage to further develop the series thanks to the strong foundations that we have built over the years."CEO of Swim Bike Run Sport Jurica Barac concluded: "We are very proud to take over the organisation of the new B2Run races in Croatia. It is an important addition to our current events portfolio and we will work with Infront to make sure we get more employees and sponsors involved in the next editions."
With the addition of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to the series, B2Run will stage events across ten countries in 2019 including Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, South Africa, Spain, Poland and Switzerland.
B2Run, an Infront company, is Europe’s largest corporate running series and has recorded significant growth since it was founded in 2004. In 2018, the 6km runs will be held in German, Swiss, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Dutch, Polish and South African cities with up to 40 separate events planned and around 230,000 people taking part in a B2Run each year, offering companies attractive platforms for unique employee events . In Germany, the country where it originated, B2Run is the fastest-growing and largest running series, targeting a record attendance of approximately 195,000 participants from over 9,500 companies with 17 events in 2018.
Infront is a leading sports marketing company managing a comprehensive portfolio of top properties. Infront covers all aspects of successful sporting events, including the distribution of media rights, sponsorship, media production, event operation and digital solutions. Headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, Infront has a team of more than 1,000 staff working from over 40 offices across more than 13 countries, delivering 4,100 event days of top class sport around the world every year. In 2015, Infront was integrated into Wanda Sports Group, part of Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group.
Swim Bike Run Sport is a specialised sports marketing & management agency based in South East Europe. With years of experience in event management, Swim Bike Run Sport and its leadership have been involved in many eminent events such as the Red Bull Air Race, FISE World Series, Swatch Beach Majors, and Wings for Life World Run in the areas of sponsorship management, event execution, marketing, TV production, crisis management and ownership.
VETTURELLI helps leaders and organisations tackle the status quo and transform according to the market needs in order to create an impact on their business results and society. For more than 12 years, they have worked with companies including Allianz, Croatian Telecom, GRAWE, Schneider Electric, Croatian Paralympic Committee and Vienna Insurance Group, and alongside leaders tackling the toughest issues of our time - education, inclusion, health care and sustainability. In addition to their consulting practice, they run workshops and do coaching that help individuals and organisations unlock their full potential and envision their corporate culture.