What is SEL? SEL (Sports & Entertainment Ltd) is a market leader in sport and entertainment, management, marketing and commercialisation, with offices in Australia and the UK.
What is SEL’s involvement with Spartan Race? We’ve been engaged by Spartan to manage its business elements in the UK. This includes creating business efficiencies, sponsorship and marketing development, as well as identifying new and exciting venues to challenge all levels of Spartan participants.
Tell us about Spartan Race Spartan isn’t your average race – compared to normal road races, it’s the adventurous, adrenaline-junkie friend who thrives on excitement. There’s running, climbing, crawling, splashing through mud, tackling challenging obstacles and finishing with a fiery leap of victory!
What’s the secret to its success? I believe it’s the camaraderie, the challenge, and the attention to detail among the race team and the festival site team.
From the moment you register to the moment you leave, you should have a great experience.
People of all shapes and sizes, and from all walks of life, have completed Spartan Races. If you don’t want to run, then walk. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other and before you know it, you’ve done the first mile. The Spartan community is well known for being helpful – they don’t like seeing people struggle. Watch how quickly a helping hand extends your way. Don’t be surprised if you feel someone pushing up on the soles of your feet to boost you up. That’s normal. They’re just helping you.
Why did SEL take on the Spartan Race brand? The mass participation health and fitness sector has grown massively in the last five years. People are looking for new and interesting ways to exercise. They’re looking for challenges and something that’s going to push them not only physically, but also mentally.
Spartan is already a hugely strong brand within that sector in the US and we felt, with a few tweaks, it could be just as successful in the UK. There isn’t much I’d change about the races themselves, but I believe locations are key – the races need to be easy to find and access – and that’s what we’re focusing on.
These aren’t major changes, but rather refinements that I hope will grow awareness of Spartan across the UK. I believe the brand is strong enough that it will eventually be the point of reference for the category – people will say “oh, is that like a Spartan Race?”
Will there be some sort of Royal connection moving forward? Ha ha! Well, we had a race at Aston Down in May and will have one at Windsor Great Park in October for the season finale, but I think that’s about as far as it will go.
How can gyms and health clubs get involved? We recently announced a partnership with David Lloyd Leisure in the UK, but Spartan is a great opportunity for all health club operators to motivate and challenge their members. A Spartan Race is a great target to set your members to train towards. ?
Spartan is a big band in the US and is now set to grow in the UK
Panatta brought together four of the most influential figures in bodybuilding history on the
stage of RiminiWellness 2026: Phil Heath, Lee Haney, Ronnie Coleman and Hany Rambod. [more...]
Active Blackpool is deploying Cornerstone Connect, a new digital interface allowing
disparate information from multiple systems to be aggregated into one dataset, to support
its focus on reducing health inequalities and improving healthy life expectancy. [more...]
+ More featured suppliers
COMPANY PROFILES
Alliance Leisure
Alliance Leisure Services was specifically
established to respond to the changing
development need [more...]
What is SEL? SEL (Sports & Entertainment Ltd) is a market leader in sport and entertainment, management, marketing and commercialisation, with offices in Australia and the UK.
What is SEL’s involvement with Spartan Race? We’ve been engaged by Spartan to manage its business elements in the UK. This includes creating business efficiencies, sponsorship and marketing development, as well as identifying new and exciting venues to challenge all levels of Spartan participants.
Tell us about Spartan Race Spartan isn’t your average race – compared to normal road races, it’s the adventurous, adrenaline-junkie friend who thrives on excitement. There’s running, climbing, crawling, splashing through mud, tackling challenging obstacles and finishing with a fiery leap of victory!
What’s the secret to its success? I believe it’s the camaraderie, the challenge, and the attention to detail among the race team and the festival site team.
From the moment you register to the moment you leave, you should have a great experience.
People of all shapes and sizes, and from all walks of life, have completed Spartan Races. If you don’t want to run, then walk. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other and before you know it, you’ve done the first mile. The Spartan community is well known for being helpful – they don’t like seeing people struggle. Watch how quickly a helping hand extends your way. Don’t be surprised if you feel someone pushing up on the soles of your feet to boost you up. That’s normal. They’re just helping you.
Why did SEL take on the Spartan Race brand? The mass participation health and fitness sector has grown massively in the last five years. People are looking for new and interesting ways to exercise. They’re looking for challenges and something that’s going to push them not only physically, but also mentally.
Spartan is already a hugely strong brand within that sector in the US and we felt, with a few tweaks, it could be just as successful in the UK. There isn’t much I’d change about the races themselves, but I believe locations are key – the races need to be easy to find and access – and that’s what we’re focusing on.
These aren’t major changes, but rather refinements that I hope will grow awareness of Spartan across the UK. I believe the brand is strong enough that it will eventually be the point of reference for the category – people will say “oh, is that like a Spartan Race?”
Will there be some sort of Royal connection moving forward? Ha ha! Well, we had a race at Aston Down in May and will have one at Windsor Great Park in October for the season finale, but I think that’s about as far as it will go.
How can gyms and health clubs get involved? We recently announced a partnership with David Lloyd Leisure in the UK, but Spartan is a great opportunity for all health club operators to motivate and challenge their members. A Spartan Race is a great target to set your members to train towards. ?
Spartan is a big band in the US and is now set to grow in the UK
The UK's four Chief Medical Officers have published a refreshed edition of Physical activity
guidelines: UK Chief Medical Officers' report, updating the evidence that underpins the nation's
physical activity recommendations and placing greater emphasis on strength, balance, reducing
sedentary behaviour and, for the first time, supporting people taking weight loss medications.
Places Leisure has exchanged contracts to build and operate a flagship £60m water and leisure
destination on behalf of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council.
The Republic of Ireland will become the latest market in PureGym’s expanding international
portfolio, with the first launch planned for Dublin in 2027.
Anytime Fitness opened more than one club a day in 2025 and is on track to maintain this rate
of growth this year, as parent company Purpose Brands targets further international expansion.
The £33.9 million Leighton Leisure and Community Centre has opened in Leighton Buzzard, UK,
creating a next-generation public leisure, health and wellbeing hub for the local community.
Walnuts Leisure Centre in Orpington, in the London Borough of Bromley, has reopened following
a £17m transformation designed to secure the long-term future of the public leisure asset and
reposition it as a community wellbeing hub.
The Gym Group, has announced that it's sustained positive trading momentum has continued
through the first half of 2026 and the company remains confident about the outlook.
Panatta brought together four of the most influential figures in bodybuilding history on the
stage of RiminiWellness 2026: Phil Heath, Lee Haney, Ronnie Coleman and Hany Rambod. [more...]
Active Blackpool is deploying Cornerstone Connect, a new digital interface allowing
disparate information from multiple systems to be aggregated into one dataset, to support
its focus on reducing health inequalities and improving healthy life expectancy. [more...]
+ More featured suppliers
COMPANY PROFILES
Alliance Leisure Alliance Leisure Services was specifically
established to respond to the changing
development need [more...]
