Local marquee hire helps make Reading Half Marathon a whole lot greener
The event
The Reading Half Marathon is a 13.1-mile route that starts at Green Park and then takes in Reading town centre, the grounds of the university campus and the Berkshire countryside, before finishing in the Madejski Stadium.
As the race celebrates its 40th anniversary, the organiser Goldline Events is keen to keep suppliers local in an effort to reduce the carbon footprint of the half marathon.
Backed by a Reading-based sponsor, sports brand Unleashed Performance, they came to Time Marquees in 2021 for high-quality, cost-effective marquee hire for sporting events. Our Berkshire business also ticked their ‘local’ and ‘green’ boxes!
Goldline Events had total confidence in our quality marquee hire capabilities for large sporting occasions because our portfolio includes Henley Royal Regatta and major polo events such as the Cartier Queens Cup Final, as well as the Cowdray Gold Cup.
The brief
The Unleashed Performance Reading Half Marathon 2021 required variety of temporary structures in which to store entrants’ baggage, showcase and sell marathon merchandise, as a place for help desks, for medical aid, and to host VIPs and corporate receptions.
Event organisers needed an agile marquee hire service that could fit around the logistical set-up and break-down challenges of a big town centre race like this.
Flexibility with timescales was a crucial requirement. A protective trackway needed to be installed in the stadium before the tents could be set up in there. Marquees would need to be removed immediately after the race, ready for the next day’s event in the stadium.
Practicality is always paramount – so weather, safety and security were other important considerations.
The solution
Time Marquees installed nine marquees and tents for The Unleashed Performance Reading Half Marathon 2021, totalling 17,534 square feet, ready to house administrative and medical points, hospitality, baggage, and merchandise.
Our Berkshire HQ is local to the event, which enabled us to fulfil the organiser’s quest for greener credentials because close proximity meant fewer miles travelled on the road by our team.
After its two-year break due to the pandemic, we helped the Reading Half Marathon make a winning return to the sporting calendar. Thousands of runners took part and Sir John Madejski was there to applaud them in the stadium that’s his namesake, along with many excited spectators.
The event organisers were so impressed with the flexibility, quality and cost-effectiveness of our service, that they asked our team to provide marquee hire for the next three years’ half marathons in Reading.
To talk to us about marquee hire in Berkshire, Hampshire, and Surrey, call us on 0118 973 6444 or email hello@time-marquees.co.uk