PRESS RELEASE: Records will break in support of mental health charities at Run the Tan 2023
The annual Run the Tan event will be held at Melbourne’s iconic Tan Track on Sunday 30 April 2023 to raise awareness and funds for local mental health charities.
With a new record for prize money, a record fundraising target and hopes for record participation, the 2023 event is predicted to be bigger than ever.
Elite athletes, including Australian record holder Jessica Hull and Commonwealth bronze medallist Abbey Caldwell, will attempt to break the current all-time records around the famous track. Linden Hall will be defending her title as the current all-time record holder and Gen Gregson will also return to the event after injury and the birth of her first child.
Also joining in the cause are celebrities including Matthew Richardson, Rob Mills, Dave Hughes, Bernard Curry, Anthony Koutoufides, Alicia Loxley, Andy Maher and Archie Thompson.
Opening the event for the second consecutive year, Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp praised the event for its contribution to the community and supporting such an important cause.
“Run the Tan is an event that draws thousands of people to the beautiful Royal Botanic Gardens and Tan Track in Melbourne, all in the name of a good cause,” she said.
“As a community, we want to continue promoting awareness around mental health, and supporting the organisations that help those who are struggling.
“I’m delighted to welcome all the participants of 2023’s event and can’t wait to participate myself.”
Thanks to naming rights sponsor Liberty, the event will offer the largest prize money for any event of its kind in Australia. The event also aims to raise $100k to support local mental health charities such as Lifeline, One in Five, RUOK, SANE and Beyond Blue. Participants can choose to create their own fundraising page to support the work of their preferred charity.
Lifeline Community and Campaigns Manager – Marketing and Fundraising, Ben Chinnock said Run the Tan helped to build their supporter base and increase awareness of their services.
“This event raises much needed funds to support our work. Every $39 raised helps us to answer another call. We have a long history of community fundraisers through events like this so this is a great fit and helps us to keep the phone lines running.”
Run the Tan Founder, Darren Templeton said he felt passionately about the event for several reasons.
“One in five Australians will suffer mental illness this year and research has shown that running for just 15 minutes a day reduces the risk of major depression by 26%,” he said.
“Run the Tan will help raise awareness of the importance that exercise has on mental health and wellbeing, as well as providing recognition to our top Australian middle-distance runners.”
Leading lender Liberty is the major sponsor in 2023, following a successful partnership in 2022. Liberty Chief Executive Officer James Boyle said the partnership extension was an opportunity to demonstrate a free-thinking approach to supporting both community wellbeing and professional sport.
“As an organisation with inclusion in our DNA, it gives us much pleasure to support an initiative that is open to everyone in the community and caters for all abilities,” Mr Boyle said.
“We pride ourselves on finding ways to support our local community and hope our continued partnership with Run the Tan will help raise more funds and awareness for mental health in Australia.”
Liberty will again drive support for the event through its existing sponsorships with the Melbourne Renegades, Essendon Football Club and A-Leagues.
Other key event sponsors include New Balance, Up There Athletics, Allianz, and McArthur, with additional support from City of Melbourne, Athletics Victoria and Bennelong.
Registrations for Run the Tan are still open, but with limited spots available, early registrations via www.runthetan.net are encouraged.
END NOTES //
• External link: www.runthetan.net
• Downloadable images: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6p7omibgu74q572/AAATqzh8pe81vzC0wgirHW5ka?dl=0/
MEDIA LAUNCH
An official event media launch will be held on Wednesday 26 April at 10am (exact details to be confirmed) at the Pillars of Wisdom, the Tan Track, Alexandra Avenue, Melbourne. Key elite athletes, celebrities and Lord Mayor Sally Capp will be in attendance, providing opportunity for interview about why they’ve signed up for the event this year.
MEDIA CONTACT DETAILS:
• Darren Templeton, Founder, Run the Tan / [email protected] / +61 418 373 679
• Rick Zylinski, Head of Marketing Strategy and Corporate Partnerships, Liberty / [email protected] / (03) 8635 8273
ABOUT RUN THE TAN
Now in its third year, the Run the Tan annual showcase event, supporting mental health charities, has quicky become one of the most popular and well well-known running events in Melbourne and Australia. The inaugural event was held in April 2021 between COVID lockdowns.
Founded and launched by Darren Templeton in 2019, the organisation has established a central source of truth and governance process to capture and manage all official recorded run times around the Tan (including the all-time top 10 and top 100 fastest times for men and women). Run the Tan partners with Bennelong Foundation and City of Melbourne to provide and update the official top 10 fastest times on digital clocks located at the Tan on a cyclic basis.
Run the Tan also recently launched a free weekly community run club initiative. Held at the Tan Track at 8am every Saturday morning, it caters to all fitness levels and abilities, and is open to everyone in the community.
