The first official street run of the Brooklyn Marathon and Half Marathon scheduled for April 24 has a shoe sponsor, thanks to a deal with Adidas.
The NYCRUNS marathon, founded in 2011, has a new route that will traverse the streets of Brooklyn from Williamsburg to Coney Island, with both the full marathon and the half slated to end in Prospect Park.
“What’s cool about this is it takes in some of the cool neighborhoods throughout Brooklyn,” Harrie Bakst, a partner at WCPG, which represents NYCRUNS, said in a telephone interview. “We want to border the lines of performance and tap into the culture of Brooklyn.”
The Boston Marathon is also sponsored by Adidas, and Brooklyn finishers can submit their times to qualify for the Boston race.
“We are always looking for opportunities to expand our outreach and engagement in the communities we serve, and we are proud to partner with NYCRUNS to support the running community in Brooklyn,” said Ernesto Bruce, senior director of Adidas Running, North America. “It’s bound to be a really incredible race weekend, with a size and scope that hasn’t been done in decades.”
The Brooklyn race, which has nearly sold out its 22,500 spots, offers a spring counterpart to the New York City Marathon, which is run through all five city boroughs, is sponsored by New Balance, and is scheduled this year for Nov. 6.
Adidas plans to create special footwear and apparel for all race participants, volunteers and NYCRUNS staff members, and will be the presenting sponsor of the race Expo. While financial terms were not disclosed, a tie-up of this size in the running space is typically worth about $1.2 million, according to people familiar with the industry.
“We are proud to have Adidas, one of the world’s most respected and innovative brands, joining us in this partnership as we continue to establish the NYCRUNS Brooklyn Marathon & Half Marathon as an iconic athletic event that serves our communities well beyond race weekend,” said Steve Lastoe, founder and chief executive of NYCRUNS.
The Brooklyn Marathon mostly has been run through parks in the borough since its inception in 2011. New York Road Runners had the sole city permit to run the annual New York City Marathon through the streets and attract more than 50,000 finishers a year.
The first Brooklyn Marathon encompassed eight laps around Prospect Park. Starting three years ago, marathoners were able to run a few blocks on Brooklyn streets before winding through that park for the main stretch of the run.
Since 2013, Lastoe has been working with the city to sanction the Brooklyn Marathon under the guidance of NYCRUNS, and that permit was finally granted this past June.
“Fast forward to now,” Bakst said. “The race at 22,000 people will be one of the top in the country in year one. And we have this exciting partnership with Adidas. We think that speaks to that growth.”
(The story was updated to clarify that financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.)