Sports retailers are investing time and effort in providing community-based activities in order to strengthen brand loyalty and awareness. One of these is Sweatshop, a specialist provider of running shoes and clothing

We’ve all seen them, running, usually by the side of a busy road, even in the pouring rain. Usually they’re head down, struggling against the wind. Or else, upright like a clockwork soldier. Face a contorted mask, apparently feeling every drop of rain, gust of wind and jarring contact with the pavement. Or, a mask of concentration, seemingly oblivious to anything other than the next step.

We give them names: joggers, masochists, nutters. But apart from the occasional jogging club outing; when we see these people, they’re usually on their own. Unless, that is, you live in Nottingham, Cambridge, Hyde or Castleford, where every week passers-by will see a procession of bright yellow jerseys bobbing up and down by the roadside. Some pushing ever onwards at a lively pace, others huffing and puffing like asthmatics down a coal mine. Some walking, others talking. Some even allow themselves the occasional smile.

All together now
This sea of yellow-clad joggers can mean only one thing – a Sweatshop running community. There are 120 of these groups around the country, with around 25,000 members, 3,000 of whom run every week.

Sweatshop is the chain of sports footwear and clothing shops founded by Roger Bannister’s running buddy, Chris Brasher way back in 1971. Sweatshop’s managing director, Nick Pearson, a former Great Britain junior middle distance runner, explains that the company wanted to give local people of all ages and abilities the opportunity to run for free, and at their own pace. The first running community was set up in 2011 in Teddington.

"We want people to run as part of their everyday lifestyle not to see running as a fitness fad or something only the super fit can do," he says, and adds that the running communities meet at their local Sweatshop store or a nearby clubhouse, every week. Members run a pre-determined route around their town or city, before arriving back at base for a stretch, a chat and maybe some refreshments. The groups run under the guidance of running leaders. That’s one of the store’s staff members who has taken a UK Athletics course, especially designed for the company.

Making friends
Pearson explains that many people find starting with a running group intimidating.

This, he says, is what the running communities were set up to overcome. "Maybe someone doesn’t know where to look to find a group in the first place, or believes that the physical challenge will be beyond them," he says. "They might feel too self-conscious to run around the streets in Lycra or think that everyone at a gym or a club will be fitter and healthier than they are."

During their first few Sweatshop sessions, beginners learn how to run and gradually build up their proficiency. It’s a six to eight week programme, designed to help people with no running ability move towards being able to run continuously – at their own pace – for five kilometres.

Beginners start off running for a while, then walking for a while, then running again, walking and so on. Each week, they run a bit more and walk a bit less. A back marker moves very slowly along the course to make sure no one gets left behind. "The idea is that beginners improve a little bit each time," Nick Pearson says. "The groups are for everyone," Pearson says. "You can join in whether you’re training for a marathon or have a problem running to catch the bus."

More experienced runners race their friends, try to beat their personal bests or practice for big races. From fitness freaks to fun runners; everyone runs how far and how fast they want.

Members get their yellow Sweatshop jersey after they’ve completed five runs. After twenty five, they get a free nutrition pack. After thirty, it’s a sweatshop foam roller and after fifty a free pair of running shoes up to the value of £100. "Whereas at clubs, members come together to meet the goals of the organisation – winning a race, doing well in the league ," Nick Pearson says, "in a Sweatshop running community people come together to pursue individual goals."

First steps
The very first Sweatshop store opened in Teddington as Chris Brasher’s Sporting Emporium. Back then, in 1971, running was still a niche sport and the 1956 Olympic 3,000m steeplechase gold medallist was annoyed that he and his friends couldn’t easily find the right kit.

At first, Brasher, who also set the pace for the first half of Roger Bannister’s 1954 four minute mile, sold kit out of the back of his car. Then he imported the stuff and finally, opened the shop.

It was twenty years before Sweatshop opened shops two and three. By then, Brasher had conceived of, and co-organised, the first London Marathon. Two years after he competed in the 1979 New York marathon alongside fun runners, for the first time. When Nick Pearson joined the company in 1994, Sweatshop had just opened its fifth store, all of them in south-east London. By 2000, Sweatshop had fourteen stores around the UK.

Then came the running boom, in the early 2000s, and with increasing demand for running, among all ages, including teenagers, Sweatshop spread out, and now has 120 stores.

Running has become one of Britain’s most popular physical activities, and the running communities helped Sweatshop build brand loyalty with a rapidly increasing group of people. But like Chris Brasher, who died in 2003, Nick Pearson wanted the company to do something tangible for running and runners. Sweatshop started supporting Parkrun, back in 2004, when no more than twenty or so people would show up. Now, 500,000 take part annually. Sweatshop also provides free kit for thirty six elite junior athletes every year, and has Olympic Gold medallist, Christine Ohuruogu mentoring them. With Portsmouth University, the company is involved in a research project on breast health and how sports bras can help stop teenage girls from giving up on running.

"We knew we actually had to do something, or all the talk of helping runners would just come across as corporate BS," Nick Pearson says and adds that Sweatshop staff do a bespoke course in biomechanics at the University of Roehampton. "Its important that our staff know how people’s bodies move while we’re running. That way they can give customers informed advice." Staff also attend a course in bra-fitting and breast health at the University of Bedford.

Pearson hopes that as existing running communities grow and with more shops opening, membership will rise to more than 50,000 in the next few years. The company is currently creating a digital platform to keep running community members informed about upcoming events and their individual progress.

Last year, six hundred runners, all kitted out in Sweatshop yellow jersey’s turned out for the annual Westminster mile. Individual stores as far away as Manchester and Yorkshire put on buses to get their community members to the event. Pearson hopes to take 1,000 runners to this year's event. "We want those people who come along to our running communities to feel part of something bigger," he says. "Something that has both a local and a national identity."