UKFast has agreed a three-year contract extension with sports travel company, Sports Tours International; retaining the headline sponsorship of both the City of Manchester 10K and City of Salford 10K.
The deal also sees UKFast become the Corporate Partner for each of Sports Tours International’s other North West events – which include the iconic Tour of Tameside, The City of Preston 10k and the Jingle Bell Jog in Media City.
In 2019 Sports Tours International announced the launch of its new charitable initiative, The Running Bee Foundation. The foundation works with local communities to fund healthy and active lifestyle initiatives and help fight childhood obesity via the profits made from each event and by making funds available through grant applications.
Lawrence Jones MBE, UKFast CEO said, “the relationship with Sports Tours International to this point has been fantastic. The culture of the two companies is very similar and it’s inspiring to connect two businesses with such energy and enthusiasm for health and wellbeing.
“The partnership is a positive for the whole area. Through the Running Bee Foundation, our goal is to inspire as many people as possible to adopt a more active lifestyle. We want to get the whole region bouncing with energy.”
Chris Bird, CEO of Sports Tours International added, “we are delighted to extend this great partnership with a really strong national brand. We want to work with the best and UKFast has proven over the years that that's exactly what it is.
“The relationship with someone like Lawrence, who really believes in the kind of initiatives we're supporting, is incredibly important. It's a great business association but it's also a true partnership.
“We're adding new races and growing the participation in each event, but our ultimate goal is to give back more profit each year to every community that we operate in through the Running Bee.”
The UKFast City of Manchester 10K takes place on Sunday 7th July 2019. The UKFast City of Salford 10K takes place on Sunday 8th September 2019.