Category: News

The organizers of The Boston Run Show have announced that runners should mark their calendars for the 2025 edition, March 1-2, in a new location The Boston Convention & Exhibition Center in the Seaport, Boston. Adding to a new date and different venue, the offering at the expo is set to double as the running expo will be held at the same time as The Boston Outdoor Expo.  

Whilst the runners are kitted out with new gear, enthused with new inspiration, and have found new connections in the community from The Boston Run Show held last weekend, the organizers have already got plans to bring more brands, features and partners onto the floorplan for visitors in 2025. With over 200 brands on site, visitors will get to shop more. Not only will runners find the latest gear, tech, nutrition, apparel and hydration products they need for their year of running but an entire second expo offering outdoors adventure products will be available next door. At The Boston Outdoor Expo, runners will be able to find products for hiking, trail running, mountain biking, climbing, mountaineering, camping, fishing, swimming, adventure travel and nature photography.

A Winning Weekend

Last weekend, the Hynes Convention Center welcomed close to 10,000 runners to The Boston Run Show as it kicked off its biggest, most successful event yet. The annual celebration of running welcomed thousands of families, beginners through advanced, marathon, track and trail runners across New England.

The weekend kicked off with the first ever shake-out run led by Boston Marathon’s Race Director, Dave McGillivray, International marathon and travel expert Kelly McLay, Coach Becca Pizzi and America’s run streaker Hellah Sidibe. Swag, smiles and running along the Charles River was enjoyed by over 50 runners before the expo opened Saturday morning. With endorphins pumping, the mood was high as the entrance giveaways started for the early to arrive visitors, prizes included Wahoo GPS watches, Marathon Sports gift cards, Puma shoes, Skechers cooling towels, Sam Adams hats, Marathon Sports tops – it was an energetic opening!

Throughout the weekend, inspiration was in abundance as headline speakers shared anecdotes from their careers, skills knowledge and selfies with the running audience. The 2-day line-up included Olympian Michael Johnson, Barkley Marathon finisher John Kelly, ultrarunner legend Scott Jurek, Comedian Laura Green and many more. The inspiring and immersive experience for runners of all abilities, featured a multitude of exciting new features, world-class speakers, over 100 brands, expert advice, and community initiatives.
Stephen Morgan, Managing Director of Raccoon Media Group USA commented with certainty “We are thrilled to have a new plan to share with the communities we’re building. By co-locating two expos in the city, we are bringing two active communities together and offering a bigger offering for brands, partners and visitors involved. The strategic move enables us to curate a great day out for families who can immerse themselves in the world of getting outside and active. We aim to create healthy active lifestyles and encourage consumers to try new sports in an inclusive space with inspiration, education, and camaraderie. Visitors will find that at both expos co-located in Boston, 2025.  We can’t wait to see you there”

The two expos will return March 1-2, 2025, at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. There is opportunity to book booth space, sponsor features and create marketing partnerships to reach an active audience in Boston. Contact info@thebostonrunshow.com or info@thebostonoutdoorexpo.com for more information.

ENDS

For all media enquiries, contact Senior Marketing Manager Chloe Hyland at chloe.hyland@raccoonmediagroup.com

Almost 30,000 runners laced up for the sixth National Running Show at the NEC, Birmingham this weekend, a record-breaking number of runners for the annual event. With over 250 brands, over 50 speakers, 25 features and runners from every corner of the country, the event was the perfect kick-start to a great year of running.

Running royalty including Sir Mo Farah, Dame Kelly Holmes, Eilish McColgan, Vassos Alexander, Jasmin Paris and record-breaking winner of Spine Race 2024, Jack Scott, graced the three stages at the show to packed audiences of avid runners who queued in their hundreds to hear from and meet their #runninginspo in real life.

With over 250 brands on site, visitors shopped their favourite kit, tech, nutrition and hydration products, getting face-to-face bespoke advice tailored to their needs. Runners shopped brands including adidas, Altra, Asics, Science in Sport, Hoka, Hilly, Mizuno, Salomon and more.

Co-Host Iwan Thomas commented: “I have been hosting The National Running Show since the first year and I am continuously blown away by how much energy, enthusiasm and excitement there is in one room. To bring this many people together who choose to spend their time doing the same activity is really special, it’s certainly become the only way for runners to kick start their year.”

Susie Chan, Co-Host of National Running Show commented: “Another year, another Run Show and what a Show it was. I genuinely don’t think I’ve ever seen an event so busy. I loved meeting old friends and being introduced to new brands and I always come away feeling a little bit more excited about my year’s running adventures.”

The Show also saw the launch of the first ever National Running Show Awards that recognised and celebrated outstanding contributions to the community. 10 individuals and brands were recognised in the closed evening presentation, winners included Kevin Sinfield for ‘Inspirational Runner, Allie Bailey for ‘Coach of the Year’ and Food Bank Run for ‘Best Charity Initiative’.

Plans are already underway for a bigger Show in 2025 with speakers including Dame Denise Lewis, Scott Jurek and Shakira Akabusi already announced to speak. For visitors who love trail running, The National Outdoor Expo takes place at NEC, Birmingham 23-24 March and caters to people who love hiking, camping, watersports, trail running, climbing and cooking outdoors.

Raccoon Media Group has seen success at this year’s Trade Show News Network (TSNN) Innovation Awards with The Boston Run Show taking home the award for The Best Consumer Show. The awards evening took place Saturday Oct 28^th and honored the “Best of Innovation”. Global show organizers joined the event in Puerto Rico and celebrated those who have truly shined brightly in the past year.

The TSNN Awards recognized nominees in 12 categories and received an incredible number of nominations for the Outstanding Show Pro Awards and Innovation Awards. Finalists for the Best Consumer Awards included Super Pet Expo, Awesome Con, Anime Con, Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show as well as The Boston Run Show.

The debut of the Boston Run Show in partnership with Boston.com and the Boston Athletic Association was hosted at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, MA in February 2023 and received over 18,000 ticket registrations. Despite the coldest weekend the city had seen for seven years, the show welcomed close to 10,000 visitors out of the cold and into the warm expo. The show’s two stages played host to Olympians and athletes from across the world of running including Sally McRae, Carl Lewis, Dean Karnazes, Dave McGillivray and Jenna Prandini. The line-up of speakers enthralled packed theatres with the highs, lows, achievements, and failures from a life spent running. The city’s runners shopped for new gear, tech and nutrition from leading brands and found new races to sign up to at the Events Village. The event is strategically timed to prepare runners for the city’s marathon and promote the benefits running to new audiences who are looking to start.

Mike Seaman, CEO at Raccoon Media Group commented: “I am thrilled for the team to have been recognized and rewarded for the launch of The Boston Run Show. Despite a tough start due to a  date postponement and extreme weather, we couldn’t be happier with our first running expo in New England. We had a great time immersing ourselves into the USA industry and we think there are exciting times ahead!”

The Boston Run Show will return for its second edition, January 27^th-28^th 2024 at the Hynes Convention Center. For more information about other Raccoon Media Group events visit www.raccoonmediagroup.com/events.

Raccoon Media Group has been shortlisted for this year’s Trade Show News Network (TSNN) Innovation Awards. The Boston Run Show has been recognized and is shortlisted as a finalist for the Consumer Shows category. The awards program will celebrate and honor the “Best of Innovation” – shows that truly shined brightly in the past year with new marketing programs, an amazing virtual or hybrid event, a highly engaging (fun) show or created/maintained a great community or culture after digging deep and finding new ways to serve and engage their audiences.

The debut of the Boston Run Show in partnership with Boston.com and the Boston Athletic Association was hosted at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, MA in February 2023 and received over 18,000 ticket registrations. Despite the coldest weekend the city had seen for seven years, the show welcomed close to 10,000 visitors out of the cold and into the warm expo. The show’s two stages played host to Olympians and athletes from across the world of running including Sally McRae, Carl Lewis, Dean Karnazes, Dave McGillivray and Jenna Prandini. The line-up of speakers enthralled packed theatres with the highs, lows, achievements, and failures from a life spent running. The city’s runners shopped for new gear, tech and nutrition from leading brands and found new races to sign up to at the Events Village. The event is strategically timed to prepare runners for the city’s marathon and promote the benefits running to new audiences who are looking to start.

Mike Seaman, CEO at Raccoon Media Group commented: “I am so incredibly proud of the team here at Raccoon and it is fantastic to see us developing relationships in the USA and being recognized by the TSNN Awards. To have our company listed alongside the biggest and best events in the USA is testament to the amazing people we have in our business. Good luck to the other nominees and we look forward to the winners being announced next month.”

The Boston Run Show will return for its second edition, January 27^th-28^th 2024 at the Hynes Convention Center. For more information about other Raccoon Media Group events visit www.raccoonmediagroup.com.

Raccoon Media Group Ltd has announced that a new investment vehicle, Cuil Bay Capital (CBC), has today acquired a majority stake in the business. CBC is led by Doug Emslie, the former CEO of Tarsus Group who will join the board as chairman, replacing Ralph Collett. The remainder of the senior management team will remain in place to take the company into its next phase of growth.

Mike Seaman, CEO of Raccoon Media Group explained “Over the past seven years, Raccoon has evolved from a personal dream to a business that employs 33 members of staff, delivers ten events per year, has a growing digital arm and operates in the US as well as the UK. I couldn’t be prouder of the team and what we have managed to achieve together. This acquisition is perfectly timed to enable us to take the next step on our journey, building on the solid foundations that already exist and giving us the investment and ability to expand”.

He continues “Doug has been an incredible advocate and mentor for us over the last couple of years and shares the same passion in creating products that inspire people to live active and healthy lives. The team at Raccoon will remain unchanged and we are all excited for the future growth of the business. You can expect to see us move into B2B as we expand our portfolio, whilst retaining our focus on quality of delivery, customer service, passion and purpose”.

CBC’s strategy focuses on acquiring well-established, entrepreneurial businesses and events that are in the high-growth stage in sectors that are in transition. The purchase of Raccoon is the initial stage of developing a portfolio that focuses on healthy, active and sustainable markets that inspire positive lifestyle choices.

CBC Chairman Doug Emslie, who was the first employee of Tarsus Group in 1998 and served as its CEO until its acquisition by Informa for $1 billion in April 2023, will assume the position of Chairman at Raccoon.

Speaking about the exciting acquisition, Doug Emslie, Chairman of CBC, expressed his enthusiasm, stating, “I am very pleased to have Raccoon as our first investment and I look forward to working with Mike Seaman and his team to help them execute their exciting expansion programme. Raccoon will continue to grow organically, by launching new products and by acquisition. They have a clear plan building passion-led communities in multiple media channels and we are excited to help them achieve their aims.”

“The exhibition sector is a very entrepreneurial and dynamic sector and the opportunity for CBC is to help entrepreneurs accelerate the scaling of their businesses both sectorially and geographically by providing both financial and strategic input.”

(London – 5 June, 2023) – Long-time exhibition industry professionals and avid runners – Mike Seaman, CEO of Raccoon Media Group,  and Douglas Emslie, Senior Advisor at Informa and former Tarsus Group CEO – will be running the infamous, 96-mile West Highland Way in Scotland July 1 to raise funds for four charities.

Mike and Doug’s goal was to bring in a total of £96,000 (£1,000 per mile) for the following charities:

• Green Hub is a local community project supporting teenagers and their families / carers facing social, emotional and mental health challenges
• Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity is a leading, specialist paediatric centre, delivering some of the most advanced treatments, complex surgical procedures and cutting-edge research to over 90,000 children and young people from across the UK and beyond
• Mind UK provides advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem. They campaign to improve services, raise awareness and promote understanding
• Cancer Research UK fund scientists, doctors and nurses to help beat cancer sooner. They also provide cancer information to the public

HERE is the link to donate to these incredible causes!

“Mental health and cancer impact most families. We have chosen 4 charities that do fantastic work in these areas and this run will be a major boost to them in helping those in need,” Emslie said.

Seaman concurred that the charities were chosen carefully, adding ““Doug and I spent a long time deciding which charities we wanted to raise money for, and the causes are incredibly personal, important and meaningful to us both.”

The charities range in size, with one of the smallest ones being Green Hub, which is based near where Doug resides.

“Doug’s wife, Caroline, joined Green Hub 18 months ago and quickly became an integral part of the team, running our inspiring Teen Garden. When she and Doug told us that Green Hub was to be a beneficiary of Doug and Mike’s extraordinary West Highland Way adventure, we were completely over the moon,” said Vanessa Lanham-Day, Co-Founder & Co-Chair of the Green Hub Project for Teens.

She added, “As a small, locally-based charity their donation will make a massive difference to the range and depth of work that we do for teens with mental health issues. Doug and Mike’s story of resilience, and how they have come back determined to succeed in this gruelling challenge on their second attempt, is an inspiring message for all young people today.”

This isn’t the first time that Mike and Doug have tried to complete the daunting West Highland Way course.

“Social media tends to be about successes. This challenge is about failure. Last October Mike and I attempted the 96 miles of the West Highland Way, and we had to stop after 72 miles due to my feet issues,” Emslie said.

He added, “Rather than give up, we saw the failure as a huge learning opportunity, and we return more resilient to do it again this time better equipped to complete it.”

Seaman added, “This is a huge challenge that will test us both mentally and physically – the West Highland Way is a brutal route and has to be one of the toughest things I have ever done”

The West Highland Way stretches 96 miles (154 Km) from Milngavie to Fort William in Scotland, taking in a huge variety of scenery along the way, from countryside parks to loch-shores and open moorlands to steep mountains.

Mike and Doug will have to contend with running a total distance of 96 miles (154km) with 3,155m (10,351ft) of elevation gain, covering very tricky terrain and ‘variable’ weather conditions.

Astonishingly, the team have already raised over £96,000 with an incredibly generous donation from Charterhouse and the Tarsus management team. During the recent acquisition of Tarsus by Informa, £96,000 was set aside to support the challenge. On their behalf, Doug Emslie stated:

“Whilst we were going through the transaction with Informa, the team  decided that we wanted to ensure a proportion of the transaction was paid to good causes, which is exactly what we have done here. £96,000 makes a huge difference to these charities and we are excited to see how far we can go beyond that. I will certainly be talking to my other contacts and connections to see if they can match this generosity as we seek to go #beyond96”

Follow @Project_96 on Twitter and @Project_96whw on Instagram leading up to the run. On July 1, make sure to tune into the Instagram link for live updates!

EMECA has awarded Raccoon Media Group the BELA – Best Exhibition Launch Award 2023 for its outstanding achievement with the National Outdoor Expo 2022.

EMECA created the BELA Best New Exhibition Launch Award on the occasion of its 30th Anniversary last year, to mark the strong comeback after the pandemic. The aim is to draw attention to new organisers, show themes and formats to highlight the innovativeness and attractiveness of the trade fairs industry. At the same time, EMECA intends to foster the resilience of the exhibition sector by showcasing examples of innovative approaches, active creation of new exhibitions and outstanding entrepreneurship. The BELA Award is given to the best first edition of an exhibitions, B2B or B2C, held at the EMECA venues in 2022.

13 submissions from 8 different venues in 5 countries had been received following the call for submissions launched among EMECA venues only. All applications presented appealing concepts, demonstrated innovations, ambitious economic plans and their impact. The jury was thrilled by the high number, the variety and quality of the applications received. EMECA President Roland Bleinroth gratefully indicates: “We would like to thank all applicants and encourage them to follow the path forward in
collaboration with the EMECA venues.” During the EMECA General Assembly taking place in Basel on 16th – 17th May 2023,

Raccoon Media Group was awarded of this exclusive award and honoured by the
representatives of the major exhibitions centres in Europe. Roland Bleinroth adds: “The EMECA jury was impressed by how the community was built in a creative, inclusive and diverse way. The interactive activities implemented both inside the halls and outdoor went well beyond other similar industry events. We also appreciated the comprehensive sustainability measures, carbon footprint measuring and ambitious goal to be a net zero carbon event in 2025. All in all, this a role model for organiser-venue collaboration, we congratulate Raccoon Media Group as well as the NEC Birmingham.”

Mike Seaman, CEO Raccoon Media Group commented: “It was vital for our event that in designing our exhibition, we create and exude an inclusive and inspiring community feel rather than just an event. We’re delighted that the EMECA judges picked up on that, as well as our detailed sustainability measures. The 2022 show saw us ditch aisle carpet for the first time, working with a carbon auditor to measure, monitor and reduce our carbon impact. The second edition has just taken place in March this year with even bigger success, large rebooking numbers and expansion plans of 50% plus floorspace for next edition. We now plan to expand internationally with the National Outdoor Expo in Boston, USA, in 2024.”

Kelly Haslehurst, Marketing Director for Conventions & Exhibitions at the NEC, said: “We are proud to host such great content and innovative new launches at our venue and The National Outdoor Expo is a prime example of this. We’re excited for the success of The National Outdoor Expo going forward and can’t wait to see how it grows and develops. This internationally recognised award is testament to the hard work of Raccoon Media Group and our NEC venue team who frequently pull out all the stops to make each event in the calendar a memorable one.”