Sponsor a Race

1. Sponsorship Budget

Talk with your team to determine what your sponsorship budget is. It will likely come out of your marketing budget.

To create a realistic budget, you need to know your market. Race sponsorship costs vary across races. They are affected by race type and race size.

5K and 10K sponsorships can start around $300-500. Some can even be as low as $150. And, some start at $1,000. Half marathon sponsorship typically starts around $1,000. Marathon sponsorship generally starts around $3,000.

2. Race Audience

A sponsorship’s primary value is access to a race’s audience. Understand the demographics and interests of who participates and attends races generally. Then, you’ll also want to understand the specifics of the race you’re considering sponsoring. The race you’re working with can give you demographic information to help you understand their audience.

Keep in mind that the most popular distance is the half marathon and the most popular race type is a road race. (2022-Global-Runner-Survey-final.pdf)

Race Audience Demographics

There’s a close to 50/50 split between men and women in running. Runners are often in their 30s and 40s and maintain running as a habit.

Running USA found that a majority of participants run frequently for fitness. About a fifth of participants run competitively. Another fifth of participants jog recreationally.

Remember that participants will have friends and family at the finish line, so you can reach an even broader audience than just the athletes.

Race Audience Interests

Of course,running products and services are a great fit for race exposure. Running USA found that runners are most interested in running shoes, running apparel, nutrition and hydration, and tech gear.

Other athletic products and services like muscle rollers, physical therapy, yoga gear, local fitness centers, yoga studios, etc. would also be attractive to an athletic audience.

Next, think local. While some races draw participants from across the country and even the world, a large portion of their audience will be local to your region. Local restaurants, bars, dental offices, doctors offices, etc. are also relevant to a race’s participants and their families.

3. Sponsorship Value

Race sponsorships often include any number of the benefits listed below:

As you review your sponsorship options, consider the value offered and figure out a way to track your return on investment.

Submit My Race to the Race Calendar

When you add your race to our online race calendar, your running event will be viewed by thousands of potential participants. Whether you have a bike race, a marathon, a triathlon, or any other type of race, spend a couple minutes to add your race to this calendar of events. If you submit your race to the calendar, you will have the opportunity to upload either a photo or video or your race.

Add My Race to Calendar

Benefits of Including Your Race in the Calendar

Your race is unique, and in addition to capturing the attention of our potential participants, you will be getting a free link back to your website. This will help you with search engine optimization. When Google and other search engines see that you have more websites linking to your site, you will come up higher in searches when participants are looking for an event in your area.

Make Submission to Race Calendar

Virtual Races & Charity Specific Races

Above is our entire list of races, but if you are looking specifically for a charitable race or a virtual race we have pages that are specific to those types. Find our list of virtual races here. Find our list of charitable races here. With our site you can learn how to create a race. Some race organizers put on virtual races. Learn how to create a virtual race. Things to consider when selecting a virtual race.