Oxfam Joins The Edinburgh Marathon Team

4 JUN2010

Edinburgh Marathon has announced, after their record-breaking eighth running last month, that Oxfam, one of the world's most renowned charities, will become the event's principal charity for the next three years.

Oxfam will add the Edinburgh Marathon Festival to its growing portfolio of running events, becoming the Charity of the Year for the 2011 Virgin London Marathon 2011 and involvement in other high-profile events such as Run to the Beat in September and the Royal Parks Half Marathon in October.

Antonia Flockhart, the Edinburgh Marathon Festival's partnership manager, said, "As well as being a world class sporting event, the Edinburgh Marathon Festival aims to promote community involvement, health and well-being, so we see this relationship with Oxfam as a perfect partnership fit for us because there is a real affinity between the types of people who participate in marathons and Oxfam's core supporters."

A record 16,822 runners took to the streets of the Scottish capital last month, participating in the Scottish Half Marathon and the Hairy Haggis Team Relay, as well as the Edinburgh Marathon itself.

Oxfam is a whole-wide charity fighting against global poverty and aims to have at least 500 people running for their cause in next year's event, which will now be known as The Edinburgh Marathon Festival in association with Oxfam.

Alicia Donaldson, Oxfam's Running Events Manager, said, "This is an amazing opportunity for Oxfam. To continue our life-changing work, like supplying people with safe drinking water or campaigning for free education for all, we need people to run for us. Being associated with the Edinburgh Marathon is the ideal platform to ask people to support Oxfam. It's such a fantastic event and we're going to work with our new partners to make the Edinburgh Marathon Festival in association with Oxfam even more special, well-known and respected worldwide."

Photograph credit Oxfam.