Zug, Switzerland – Infront has acquired a minority stake in the Blackmores Sydney Marathon, the latest event to be announced as an Abbott World Marathon Majors candidate.
The scope of the agreement allows Infront to market sponsorship and media packages whilst also providing support to the race throughout the evaluation phase.
To become a Major, the Sydney Marathon will be required to meet strict criteria over a three-year period and, if successful, will join the Tokyo Marathon, Boston Marathon, TCS London Marathon, BMW-BERLIN Marathon, Bank of America Chicago Marathon and TCS New York City Marathon as a new member of the Abbott World Marathon Majors in 2025.
It is the second time Infront has invested in an Abbot World Marathon Major candidate following its investment in South Africa’s Sanlam Cape Town Marathon in August 2021.
Wayne Larden, Race Director, Sydney Marathon, said: “We have always believed that the Blackmores Sydney Marathon has what it takes to be an Abbott World Marathon Major, so becoming one of only three global candidate races is a tremendous honour.
“The Sydney Marathon is part of Australia’s largest running festival, the Sydney Running Festival, attracting thousands of participants to run across the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge and finish under the sails of the Sydney Opera House each year.
“We can now take a huge leap forward and become one of the most iconic running events in the World and achieving this status would be a tremendous boost for Sydney and Australia. Australia is a proud sporting nation, and we want to call on marathon and half marathon runners from all over Australia and overseas to support and run the Sydney Marathon and achieve the criteria to become an Abbott World Marathon Major in Sydney.”
Dawna Stone, Abbott World Marathon Majors CEO, said, “The Abbott World Marathon Majors are delighted to welcome the Sydney Marathon into the candidate process from 2022. This presents an exciting opportunity to expand our impact into Oceania and further our mission to create, grow and support opportunities for all to discover the power of the marathon community. We look forward to working closely with the team in Sydney as we start this journey together!”
Hans-Peter Zurbruegg, Senior Vice President Personal & Corporate Fitness at Infront, said: “Sydney is an amazing destination and has an iconic marathon with a strong legacy, Infront is delighted to form part of the efforts to make it an AbbottWMM event in the coming years. The event is already recognised as a success and we will leverage our expertise, networks and insights to elevate the event to the next level. We are proud to work in close partnership with the Abbott WMM team, as well as the Sydney team including all stakeholder to make the dream come true, establishing a WMM event in Sydney, Australia.”