Charlotte Marathon | Ambassador Program

As part of the Novant Health Charlotte Marathon rebrand, we helped create the ambassador program. A community event like the Charlotte Marathon is ultimately about people. Often all it takes is the right person to change a potential runner’s mindset from “never!” to “why not me?”

In 2016, we kicked off the program by inviting well-known runners (and wannabe runners) from the Charlotte community to join the inaugural ambassador class. In exchange for swag, free race entry for up to 6 races, social media shout-outs and support, we asked our A-team to share their training experiences in their own voices (on social media and in-person) and help plan training events leading up to race day. Our simple ask was met with community-wide enthusiasm.

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After the initial list of ambassadors committed, we opened the program to the public for 8 additional ambassadors to join the crew. The application was simple. Post a selfie and answer the question, “How will you make the Charlotte Marathon your own?”Ambassador Kickoff_9

The 2016 ambassador program was not only effective at raising awareness about the rebrand, but it also provided a super fun and encouraging environment for runners (and potential runners) to prepare for race day. To add an extra incentive, the ambassador with the most sign ups received a $1,000 donation to the charity of their choice.

Repeating the program for the 2017 race was an easy decision. Before kicking off this year’s program, the Charlotte Marathon team sought feedback from last year’s ambassadors to find ways to improve and help more people engage with the ambassadors and sign up for the race. This year’s ambassador program saw a huge increase in applicants and attendance at training events and a better system for tracking the number of runners that each ambassador helps register.