Businesses urged to enter Grant Thornton Runway Run

The 5k race, which is open to teams of four from businesses of all sizes from across Northern Ireland, will now see over 650 runners take to the runway of George Best Belfast City Airport at 11pm on Thursday 23rd June.

Richard Gillan, Managing Partner at Grant Thornton (NI) LLP, said:

“We launched this event for the first time last year and were blown away by the support. This year the interest has been so high we have released additional places for an extra 38 teams to take part.

“This makes the event significantly larger than last year and we’re confident it will be even better.

“Last year, the atmosphere on the night was fantastic and of course the friendly rivalry adds another dimension.

“Not only does the race provide entrants with the opportunity to network and build relationships with other local businesses, but it also allows them to raise money for charity. With this year being an Olympic year we thought it was fitting to select the Mary Peters Trust as our charity of the year.

“Whilst there are extra places, we’re not expecting them to be available for too long so we would encourage interested businesses to round up a team of four, whether it be all male, all female, or mixed, and sign up as soon as possible.”

The race, which is organised by Athletics NI, is open to all businesses and organisations in Northern Ireland who are invited to enter a team of four in one or more of three categories – male, female and mixed.

Prizes will be awarded in each category with team members’ finishing times combined to determine the winner.

Many businesses which took part in the last year have already signed up again with entrants including Tughans, AECOM, A&L Goodbody, Lagan Construction Group, Omexom, Agnews Mercedes, Progressive Building Society, Translink, Willis Insurance and Danske Bank.

Nicola McCleery, Head of Marketing at Danske Bank which has also entered several teams to the race, said:

“Danske Bank will be returning to the 2016 Grant Thornton Runway Run to defend our 2015 title as mixed team winner.

“Encouraged by last year’s win, we have entered three teams this year and the Danske athletes are looking forward to competing against colleagues and individuals from other Northern Irish companies.

“Competing in such a unique location, guided only by the runway lights was a great experience and we are looking forward to the same this year at such a special, competitive corporate event.”

To register for the 2016 Grant Thornton Runway Run, please visit athleticsni.org