Great Run and Lets Do This Announce Innovative Partnership to Shore Up Industry Recovery

In a landmark deal, The Great Run Company, the UK’s original mass participation sports events organiser and Let’s Do This, a 5-year-old, Silicon Valley backed, consumer entry booking platform, have announced a partnership to inspire and innovate.

Great Run will become the largest event organiser to power all of their bookings through Let’s Do This, including the ballot for the Great North Run, the world’s biggest half marathon.

In 2022, over 250,000 participants are expected to register for their Great Run event through Let’s Do This. The platform, which is changing the way people find and enter events, has even garnered investment from sporting superstars like Paula Radcliffe and Usain Bolt.

The mass participation sports events industry contributes an estimated £300 million per year to the British economy. Despite trading coming to a standstill during lockdown, the industry is showing incredible resilience as it bounces back from the effects of pandemic.

Figures from Let’s Do This show 2020 booking figures for the last week in October were just 20% of the previous year, in stark contrast the same period in 2021 saw a 210% increase in the number of people signing up to a sporting challenge, compared to 2019.

Co-Founder, Sam Browne, said, “Our mission at Let’s Do This is to use the power of online to get people offline, off their sofas, and making moments that matter by having incredible experiences in real life together.

“Compared to other technology companies, we put people first, solving consumer problems and making people happy as a result. We can only achieve this by working closely with amazing partners who share this vision, partnering with the legendary Great Run Company is the ultimate expression of this and we are thrilled!”

Paul Foster, CEO at the Great Run Company is confident that this partnership will help shore up the wider recovery of the sector.

“The pandemic put individual health and wellbeing top of mind. The significant increase sign ups for active experiences in 2022, shows that people are keen to continue investing in themselves in a positive way.

“Let’s Do This has unrivalled data and insights on how participants search, engage and ultimately convert. Together we’re planning to make sure the mass participation industry continues to play a pivotal role in getting the nation, fitter, healthier and more motivated.”

“Like us they have a firm belief in the power of participation sports to transform lives and communities, and that by delivering world class customer experiences, this power is amplified.”

Let’s Do This’ 60-strong product, engineering & marketing teams run multiple weekly conversion tests across the entire consumer booking journey, resulting in a conversion rate 85% higher today than pre-covid standards. The platform is growing at its fastest rate ever, with revenue increasing 40% month on month. They will use the learnings gleaned from additional user interactions onsite to consistently improve The Great Run Company’s booking experience, ensuring more people entering more events more often.