Shire confirms a Third Year of Sponsorship for the Basingstoke Half Marathon
www.basingstokehalfmarathon.com
Shire Pharmaceuticals have announced their commitment to sponsor the third year of the Basingstoke Half Marathon, after two successful years, and the race is set to open for entries in the next few days.
“Shire is a global business with around 400 employees based at its site in the Chineham business park. As a healthcare business we’re focused on enabling people with life-altering conditions to lead better lives. But we also have a strong commitment to our employees and their families as well as to the Basingstoke community. We’re really pleased to be associated with this successful event that brings together so many people in the Basingstoke area in a fun and rewarding day, and raises so much for both local and national charities”, said Jessica Mann SVP, Shire Global Communications & Government Relations, who ran the race herself in 2012, along with some 40 other Shire employees.
Shire’s commitment isn’t just about providing sponsorship funding, there is a whole team of Shire people that are involved – many giving up their free time and weekends to help organisers Destination Basingstoke make it a safe and effective event as well as a really special day for everyone,:-
Meet the Shire Half marathon team:
Greg Newey – (Associate Director, HSE International) Health and safety officer for the event. Greg has many years experience in health and safety and has been the resident expert advising on the risk assessments for the half marathon, he also helped fund some of the medical cover from St John’s Ambulance for the day.
“This has been a really interesting project to get involved with, so many safety factors to consider, and each year we learn more to make it an even better event, its been great fun working with the Destination Basingstoke team, this is certainly different from my usual projects!”.
Richard Strawn – Fitness Centre Manager. Richard manages the Shire on-site gym and fitness centre and worked hard to prepare the 45 Shire runners that took part in the race.
“The Shire team were fantastic, some were experienced runners, others set themselves a personal challenge or a fund raising target – but whatever their motivation, they all helped the whole Shire community feel a real part of the day.”
Claire Stelling – Fitness instructor and leader of the official warm-up at the Destination Basingstoke Shire Half Marathon:
“It was fantastic leading the warm-up – I was proud to be involved and help get the runners motivated for the run.!”
Lynne Poole – is Associate Director Biostatistics at Shire but spent race day volunteering along with many of her colleagues on a water station handing out drinks at mile 1 and mile 11 of the race.
“I wasn’t sure what I was letting myself in for as I headed out to Cliddesden early on a very foggy morning, but it was great fun and the best way to cheer on the Shire team as they ran past. It certainly made a change from the day job!” said Lynne.
Helen Davies works in Corporate Communications and is the main contact for Destination Basingstoke, keeping everyone at Shire up to date on plans and helping out.
“I get involved with lots of events in my job with Shire, but this one is special as it is all about the community I live in and its been great to feel the buzz about the place before and after the race – everyone was so enthused and pleased to feel part of it – even if they weren’t running”
Phil Simmonds is Associate Director for Statistical Planning at Shire and he ran the race as part of the team:
“I really enjoyed the Basingstoke half-marathon. It was well organised, an interesting and challenging course and we received enthusiastic support in the villages along the way”.
Shire are keen to learn if their involvement in the half marathon has affected how people feel about this global company and we would be delighted if you would complete the very short on line poll to help – you can also find this on the race web site www.basingstokehalfmarathon.com.
You can find out more about the half marathon at www.basingstokehalfmarathon.com or www.destinationbasingstoke.co.uk or follow @BasingstokeHalf on Twitter or Basingstoke Half Marathon on Facebook to keep up with all the plans and partners.
Destination Basingstoke is a not-for-profit company working to put Basingstoke on the map for all the right reasons. The Destination Basingstoke Shire Half marathon is one a number of events and projects that demonstrate the area’s assets that make it a great place to live, work and do business.
www.basingstokehalfmarathon.com
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