The Impact Marathon Series was born from a dream that we could use the simple power of running to uplift communities and empower runners all over the world. In 2015, we turned our dream into a reality, taking Impact Marathon to Nepal. Living in a Nepali village, we undertook the challenge of building a 5km water pipeline to the community, before lacing up our shoes and running our own race - it was then we realised we have the power to change people’s lives forever.
When the United Nations announced the 17 Global Goals in 2015, we were just starting up Impact Marathon. We looked at these Goals - the future of the planet - and were inspired by one key concept;how do you make these understandable and relatable to an individual?
What does ‘No Poverty’ mean in a Malawian fishing village? What does Gender Equality look like in Kathmandu, Nepal? To us, the Goals are huge and depict the challenge of our generation. To some, they are immeasurable and vague. To others, they are completely alien.
Throughout the Impact process, from the organisations we choose to support, to the way we engage and interact with the projects and the communities, our goal is to take the impalpable and make it real. To take our runners on a journey where they can find out what Impact really means - the direct Impact we can create, as well as how our lives indirectly have an impact that creates ripples across the world. To take a runner and make them an Impact Runner.
Over the last eight years, we have built a reputation for creating entirely unique events, which have taken us deep into the culture of some incredible countries. Impact Runners have united over a shared passion to explore new trails and a hunger to make a difference to the lives of others.
Since then, our races have raised over $1.5m for grassroots organisations, tackling The Global Goals in their community. The beauty of this statistic lies not in its size, but in its power. Each $ has created an impact, has touched many thousands of lives, and is a vote for a belief that we, as runners, can change the world.
"when a group of positive, energised people come together with a common purpose, not only do we achieve great things but we make great friends. We arrive as individuals, and we finish the week as one tight community."
NICK KERSHAW, FOUNDER OF IMPACT MARATHON
It’s that combination of travelling to an extraordinary location, engaging in community projects that are led by the community and set to catalyse huge change whilst also knowing that you are going to be running a race that will challenge you to dig deeper than you have ever dug.
But the glue that brings all this together is the incredible groups of Impact Runners that we have the privilege to host. When a group of positive, energised humans come together with a common purpose, not only do we achieve great things but we make great friends. We arrive as a whole load of individuals, and we finish the week as one tight community who have gone on a powerful journey together.
In eight years, Impact Marathon has grown considerably, with races across the world, a successful white-label department, and a community of over 5000 runners who have joined our events, many of whom are already on their 3rd, 4th...even 5th event with us.
Nick is the energetic leader of the dream and revels in making a vision into a reality - bringing people together through the power of running.
In 2015, Nick left his job in finance, placed all his possessions in two bags, and set on his way to create Impact Marathons around the world. He is deeply passionate about almost everything, and he brings his relentless energy to every meeting, every race, every taxi journey...everything. He built Impact Marathon starting from zero, and has had to do the same again as we emerge for the pandemic. He lives, and breathes 'the power of running' but is inspired by every single Impact Runner, every single charity partner, every single team member who give so much to those around them.
Matt brings a wealth of experience that covers the impact, business and travel worlds through his 15 years of building travel organisations.
Matt has been beside Nick since the creation of the Impact dream and remains his first port of call for all the big decisions Frequently found all over Latin America he has worked to build several successful social enterprise travel companies that take people out of their comfort zone to developing countries around the world to volunteer and experience new destinations and cultures. He has a brilliant strategic mind and is set on building key partnerships across the world.
Liza first heard about Impact Marathon whilst working as the fundraising director for our partner charity in Guatemala - SERES.
In 2021, Liza transitioned to running her own branding studio - Impact Marathon became a client, shortly followed by Nick becoming her husband. Liza handles all the content strategy and Impact Runner communications - she is the person most runners know best before they land in-country!
Pablo turned up at our inaugural race in Guatemala as a last minute photographer, and amazed the entire team with his energy, his ability to network, and his passion for the Impact vision.
He has become an ever-present at every single race in Guatemala - sometimes even pulling strings from afar as he weaves his magical connections. In 2023, he took at step-up to being a full time member of the team, covering our sponsorship opportunities. Initially his work has been focused on Guatemala - but that is soon to shift as he becomes a global leader for Team Impact.
