Zug, Switzerland, 8 January 2015 - The sports marketing company InfrontRingier Sports & Entertainment Switzerland AG has acquired Firmenlauf GmbH in a 100 per cent takeover. The two running series - Schweizer Firmenlauf and the B2RUN Swiss Corporate Challenge – are to appear under one new umbrella brand renamed as “B2RUN Schweizer Firmenlauf”, which features six events. As a result, corporations and their employees will continue to benefit from an attractive platform that offers exciting team events which help to promote health and wellbeing alongside staff motivation as well as the employer brand.
In 2015, the B2RUN Schweizer Firmenlauf series will be carried out across six cities in Switzerland: St. Gallen (22 June), Geneva (23 June), Bern (24 June), Kreuzlingen (25 June), Basel (26 June) and Zurich (3 September; including the final). In total, it is anticipated over 12,000 participants will enjoy the events with the highlight of each of the 6-kilometer runs being the finish at a major Swiss sports venue.
Interested companies and their staff can register as of now under www.b2run.ch for the 2015 season.
Olivier Senn, Director Event Operations and member of the InfrontRingier management, said: “The popularity of endurance events is increasing throughout Europe with enthusiasm also spreading across Switzerland demonstrated by more than one million regular runners. It is our goal to make the united B2RUN Schweizer Firmenlauf series even more attractive for the participants by bringing in the experience of the Infront Group from the international B2RUN series. We guarantee companies and their employees a thrilling sporting experience with the finish at a sports arena creating a special feature for any amateur runner.”
Markus Berger, co-founder and former owner of the Firmenlauf GmbH, added: “The continuation of our ten-year company running events combined with the strengths of B2RUN provides comprehensive synergies. Together we can offer our clients running events in an impressive atmosphere. B2RUN Schweizer Firmenlauf is continuing to offer companies a unique platform for active health promotion whilst also strengthening the team identity.”
The existing Schweizer Firmenlauf team will be taken over completely to coordinate the organisation and implementation of the united event series B2RUN Schweizer Firmenlauf from the InfrontRingier headquarters in Zug. The popular event format of Schweizer Firmenlauf with its professional timekeeping, the usual time window and all previous contact persons remain unchanged.
InfrontRingier Sports & Entertainment Switzerland AG, based in Zug, Switzerland, is a 50/50 joint venture between the international sports marketing company Infront Sports & Media and the largest Swiss media group Ringier. It unifies the competencies and experiences of both mother companies and has developed into the leading sports marketing company in Switzerland throughout the last three years. InfrontRingier supports organisers of sports events as well as top athletes as a marketing, consulting and service partner. The high-level national portfolio includes, besides others, the Raiffeisen Super League, the Swiss Ice Hockey Cup, the Basel Swiss Indoors and the Tour de Suisse.
B2RUN organises and promotes Europe’s largest corporate running series. Targeting corporations, public institutions, and universities, B2RUN hosts a number of 6K runs across Germany. Since its launch in 2004, the B2RUN series has seen significant growth and expansion, reaching record participation of around 115,000. B2RUN is a dedicated resource in all matters relating to occupational health management, regardless of whether it is nutritional counselling, physical training or the annual highlight - the actual B2RUN races. Already the fastest-growing and largest running series in Germany, the B2RUN brand – through the support of Infront - is rapidly expanding and internationalising across Europe, particularly in Switzerland and France.