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Posted: Apr 7, 2011
10,000 cheers for Virgin Money and the London Marathon
Virgin Money is set to activate its London Marathon sponsorship with a big event in the heart of Docklands at Canada Square on marathon day, April 17th.
The Canada Square venue for the event is logical for two reasons – it is a place known for its banking businesses whilst also being the point on the marathon course where runners are known to ‘Hit the Wall’, finding it suddenly difficult to continue.
The Branson brand will be in attendance at the event created by Mischief PR, with a 1pm cheerleading shout out by both Holly and Richard Branson.
The pair will wear cheerleader outfits inspired by TV show Glee and be joined on stage by cheerleaders and dancers. The choice of ‘cheerleader’ has never been more appropriate as the marathon sponsors are also engaging people with the event digitally.
An online attempt is being made, using Youtube, to upload 10,000 cheers prior to the event with the uploaded cheers being edited together and played back to cheer on the runners all around the course. The cheering is expected to be a Guinness World Record that the Branson pair can announce from their stage on the day.
Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson said: "When we took the decision to sponsor the London Marathon it was with one objective in mind - to help raise millions of pounds for charity and help make everyone better off. By donating a cheer people will not only become world record holders, but also help spur on the 37,000 runners of the Virgin London Marathon through the most gruelling points of the route - these amazing people - who are running to raise money for over 1,000 charities - deserve all our cheers!"
Virgin Money Giving Patron, Holly Branson said: "We may be unable to run this year but this is a great way to get involved and ensure we're giving the best - and loudest - possible support to all those who are taking part. Virgin Money is leading our Virgin London Marathon sponsorship with the ambition to help runners raise £¼ billion over five years and will use its online capability and financial expertise to help deliver that through Virgin Money Giving."
Over £50 million was raised for charity by runners in last year's event.
Taking part in the promotion
To take part simply upload your cheer to YouTube and tag it VirginMoneyCheers then visit the Virgin Money YouTube Channel to view it (http://www.youtube.com/virginmoneycheer).
For people less familiar with this procedure, Holly Branson’s instruction video shows you how:
