“Warsaw Marathon” Foundation operates the largest street races in Poland. The conference on its 20th anniversary was an opportunity to announce excellent news! In 2023, the most prestigious races in the Polish capital will take place as the 17th Nationale-Nederlanden Warsaw Half Marathon and the 45th Nationale-Nederlanden Warsaw Marathon. Announcing the new title sponsor, the Nationale-Nederlanden brand, is another step in the development of the “Warsaw Marathon” Foundation.
“Warsaw Marathon” Foundation’s 20th Anniversary
In its 20 years of activity and continuous development, “Warsaw Marathon” has not slowed down even for a moment. In the past year, the Foundation has grown its portfolio, around the flagship events – the Warsaw Marathon and Half Marathon. New additions are the EKIDEN Relay Marathon and accompanying runs: New Balance 5k Run and Pekao S.A. Warsaw 10k.
We also helped manage the much appreciated Warsaw Running Triad races “Strive for Memory” (Constitution Day Run, Warsaw Uprising Run, and Independence Run). In 2022, these popular Warsaw runs were organised by the Foundation together with Active Warsaw after a two-year break!
The Warsaw Marathon Foundation was operating even during the pandemic. In 2020, the unique 42nd edition of the Warsaw Marathon was organised to maintain the highest sanitary standard. This event was then one of the few marathon races in the world.
The largest half-marathon in Poland will set off on March 26 under the brand of the 17th Nationale-Nederlanden Warsaw Half Marathon. The start list already includes more than 8,000 names! The capital’s event organiser and Nationale-Nederlanden announce joining forces and strengthening of the Warsaw Marathon Foundation’s activities.
“It is delightful to find ourselves on a common path with someone who shares our values. Our partnership with Nationale-Nederlanden is evidence of their trust and recognition of our events’ importance. I find it particularly significant that at a time when the entire running world is recovering from the difficult period marked by the pandemic, we are taking another step forward. After 20 years of promoting sports and a healthy lifestyle through our foundation, I know that we have much more to say”, said Marek Tronina, President of the “Warsaw Marathon” Foundation, during the conference.
Perfect match
For 20 years, the Foundation has been a promoter of healthy lifestyles, preventive examinations and regular sports practice, and thus cares for the physical and mental health of Poles. The goals and priorities of the “Warsaw Marathon” Foundation are very close to those of Nationale-Nederlanden. Sport, and specifically running, is one of the pillars of health promotion that the new partner of the Foundation focuses on, alongside preventive examinations and financial security in the wake of unforeseen events. Among sports initiatives, it is worth mentioning one of the longest running sponsorships – in the 2015/2016 season, the insurer became the title sponsor of the largest cross-country running series in Poland – CITY TRAIL, which are aimed at both adults and children.
The new sponsor of the Warsaw Marathon supports the running industry both locally and globally. The NN Group, represented in Poland by Nationale-Nederlanden, also has a long history of supporting running and social initiatives. Globally, NN Group co-leads the professional NN Running Team. The team consists of the greatest stars of long-distance running. The brand not only engages in running campaigns externally, but also boasts an internal running group that regularly trains and competes.
“We share similar values and goals with the Warsaw Marathon Foundation – such as promoting physical activity as a way to take care of both physical and mental health. We would like to not only encourage Poles to incorporate daily physical activity, adopt healthier dietary habits, and undergo regular check-ups, but also provide them with the appropriate products and tools to do so. Participating in the Half Marathon and Warsaw Marathon events can certainly be one of these motivators,” says Andrzej Miron, Nationale-Nederlanden management board member, and a runner himself. “We aim to inspire Poles to think about their health in a long-term perspective and to simply inject self-care as a permanent part of their lifestyle. Because taking care of your health is a marathon, not a sprint. Thus, the slogan of our campaign is #długodystanZDROWI [#longdistanceHealthy], and as part of our commitment we will undertake a number of activities, including the creation of a special zone in the runner’s village, where people supporting marathoners will be able to perform basic check-ups and confirm their health status,” he added.
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Perfect match
For 20 years, the Foundation has been a promoter of healthy lifestyles, preventive examinations and regular sports practice, and thus cares for the physical and mental health of Poles. The goals and priorities of the “Warsaw Marathon” Foundation are very close to those of Nationale-Nederlanden. Sport, and specifically running, is one of the pillars of health prevention that the new partner of the Foundation focuses on alongside preventive examinations and financial security in the wake of unforeseen events. Among sports initiatives, it is worth mentioning one of the longest running sponsorships – in the 2015/2016 season, the insurer became the title sponsor of the largest cross-country running series in Poland – CITY TRAIL, which are aimed at both adults and children.
The new sponsor of the “Warsaw Marathon” supports the running industry both locally and globally. The NN Group, represented in Poland by Nationale-Nederlanden, also has a long history of supporting running and social initiatives. Globally, NN Group co-leads the professional NN Running Team. The team consists of the greatest stars of long-distance running. The brand not only engages in running campaigns externally, but also boasts an internal running group that regularly trains and competes with each other.
“We share similar values and goals with the Warsaw Marathon Foundation – such as promoting physical activity as a way to take care of both physical and mental health. We would like to not only encourage Poles to incorporate daily physical activity, adopt healthier dietary habits, and undergo regular check-ups, but also provide them with the appropriate products and tools to do so. Participating in the Half Marathon and Warsaw Marathon events can certainly be one of these motivators,” said Andrzej Miron, member of the Nationale-Nederlanden technology management board and runner. “We aim to inspire Poles to think about their health in a long-term perspective and to simply inject self-care as a permanent part of their lifestyle. Because taking care of your health is a marathon, not a sprint. Thus, the slogan of our campaign is #długodystanZDROWI [#longdistanceHealthy], and as part of our commitment we will undertake a number of activities, including the creation of a special zone in the runner’s town, where people supporting participants will be able to perform basic examinations and confirm their health status,” he added.
#Running Good – and together we run even better!
Both WMF and Nationale-Nederlanden have been long committed to supporting charitable causes. Not surprisingly, the new title sponsor decided to get involved in the #BiegamDobrze [#RunningGood] charity campaign – Poland’s largest running charity initiative. It allows runners to choose one of 9 charitable organizations at the Sign Up stage. They can set up their own fundraising campaign – a virtual piggy bank. Participants encourage their friends and larger communities to make donations towards their chosen cause, and the piggy bank is filled-up by common effort. After reaching the set minimum targets – they receive a starting package for the run along with a unique, orange race number. Nationale-Nederlanden has decided to honour the efforts of those involved in the #Running Good fundraisers and financially support the biggest collections.
“Social engagement is one of the key areas of our activity. By participating in this important initiative of the Warsaw Marathon Foundation, we aim to raise awareness of the importance of activity and prevention in everyday life. We also want to provide real help and active support to organisations that help many Poles on a daily basis to improve the life quality and support their health, both physical and mental. This mission is part of our social engagement strategy. Therefore, we decided to take it one step further and recognise the efforts of those who joined the #Running Good program and collected the largest amounts. As Nationale-Nederlanden, we will pay extra sums to the leading collections, which the runners will then be able to donate to the foundation of their choice. We believe that we can do more together,” explained Marta Pokutycka-Mądrala, spokeswoman and corporate communications director at Nationale-Nederlanden.
“The #BiegamDobrze campaign is an outstanding work of many good people. Over 7 years, participants have raised more than 7 million PLN, supporting several charities in their projects. I’m thrilled that the charitable part of our activity not only attracts an increasing number of runners, but also becomes an important motive for the collaborating brands. This year’s cooperation with Nationale-Nederlanden means the scale of support received by charitable organisations will be even greater. This is a prime example of cooperation between the third sector, business and our running participants. Running feels lighter when you run for a cause – this is the main headline of #RunningGood, and I am sure it will stay valid for many years to come”, says Magda Skrocka, communications director of the Warsaw Marathon Foundation.
