Even though there are a lot of runners in the watch industry, running hasn’t quite seduced the watch industry in terms of partnerships quite like other competitive sports. This is surprising when you think of how many runners there are globally. Estimates put the number at 621 million runners, making it one of the most popular sports around the world, and a nice fit for watch brands that count accessibility and performance in their list of values.
Let’s be honest, no one is running with an analogue watch, whether it is mechanical or quartz. Runners need all kinds of additional time, distance, and speed information that is only possible in digital format. This perhaps explains the watch brands’ reticence to embrace the sport. But that is starting to change as every sporting event needs its official timekeeper to keep track of the time with that famous Swiss precision!
Maurice Lacroix announced its partnership with the BMW Berlin Marathon last year to be the competition’s official timekeeper. Marathon running particularly appealed to the brand thanks to its love for both urban style and personal challenges.
The Berlin marathon is renowned for being one of the fastest courses on the planet. This was proven two weeks ago when Eliud Kipchoge beat his own world record by 30 seconds, running the race in an astounding 2h01’09”.
I know this because I was there, reporting for WorldTempus on the event, in the thick of it all with my running shoes on. By the time Kipchoge had crossed the finish line, I hadn’t even reached the half-way mark, but the news had made its way back through the 35,000+ runners attempting the ultimate running challenge!
My marathon attempts started in 2019 when I was set to run the London marathon for Whizz Kids, a British charity providing disabled children with state-of-the-art wheelchairs and other mobility equipment. Maurice Lacroix had kindly sponsored me for this great cause, but two months into my training, I got injured and had to withdraw from the race. Luckily, I was able to push my entry to 2020, and then Covid happened. In 2021 things didn’t get better on the Covid front and I ended up running remotely all on my own in the pouring rain.
I had all but given up on the marathon challenge, when Maurice Lacroix offered me a place in the BMW Berlin Marathon, so I could finally do it. Never have I been more ready to doing something after three tries. I found a running coach to help me with a personalized training program (@running_with_jasper, if ever you are inspired to follow in my footsteps) and I was committed. Four months of pounding the pavement around the Rolle area, I started to get in shape. I knew I was making progress when Strava made me a local running hero (thank you Strava, you have no idea how good that felt!)
The last month wasn’t the best due to a crazy week at Geneva Watch Days, a back incident, and a bout of Covid, but nothing would deter me. So, on September 25th, I was there on the starting line in my Maurice Lacroix shirt, my Polar watch on my left wrist, my Aikon Tide on my right, ready to run, and run I did, all the way to the finish line, and I cannot tell you how good it felt!
