Pure Gym has announced that it will partner the UK’s biggest mass participation running series “Great Run” – the latest example of a gym teaming up with a popular outdoor event to expand its reach.

The tie-up sees Pure Gym – the UK’s largest gym chain in terms of sites – become the official fitness and gym partner for the running series, which encompasses world famous races including the Great North Run. The collaboration will enable Pure Gym and the Great Run Series to tap into synergies between the businesses, allowing for cross-promotion across email databases, social channels and websites.

The partnership is a three-year agreement and will start at The Great Winter Run on 9 January, where Pure Gym will be the headline sponsor. There will be mini pop-up Pure Gyms at a number of the events, as well as group exercise classes for people to try. Pure Gym will also be working with “Great Run” to develop a class for their members that has a focus on running and technique.

“The Great Run Series is a fantastic partner to have with more than 200,000 people taking part in their events each year,” said Pure Gym director of strategic development Francine Davis.

“Participants of their events are fitness and running enthusiasts of all abilities, from those trying it for the first time to the more experienced participant. This is obviously a great match for Pure Gym and reflects the profile of our members.”

Outdoor and endurance events have become increasingly popular in recent years, with extreme fitness identified as a major trend in the Fitness Foresight section of the 2015 Health Club Management Handbook (p.20)

Since then, gyms have announced a number of tie-ups with outdoor events. Earlier this year, Pure Gym also teamed up the 2015 Reebok Spartan Race series; Virgin Active announced an exclusive partnership with Tough Mudder; while low cost gym chain Xercise4Less unveiled a tie-up with Total Warrior. Meanwhile, Nuffield Health was recently named as the official Health & Wellbeing Partner for mass-participation giant Human Race for the next two years.

To read a feature on how health club operators can benefit from the growing popularity of extreme fitness events – from the October edition of Health Club Management – click here.