Our sponsors are our lifeblood. We have been working very closely and in partnership with our sponsors for some time now and we have been very successful in developing a unique partnership where the sponsors secure the operational costs of parkrun allowing parkrun to operate a no cost to the runner model.

This new way of working is delivering the best community spirit ever witnessed in grassroots sport before.

The benefits to all parkrunners are that you get the race experience you want with a very light touch from Nike, Sweatshop, London Marathon and Lucozade Sport.

I couldn’t be more delighted with the team work that all the partners put in to ensure that parkrun is always seen as "by the community, for the community"

Obviously, the benefits to parkrunner is often much greater because when it really counts our sponsors always come up trumps with something to keep you interested or tickle your fancy.

One example of this is the Sweatshop Monthly Shoe Prize. Hugh Brasher's Sweatshop offers a pair of shoes to each event in the UK per month as a reward for some exceptional achievement. We’re not talking about breaking world records although if that did happen we would have to consider it as exceptional. No, this prize is focused on the grassroots athlete. So at each event director’s discretion, a winner is chosen each month.

Lucozade Sport's knowledge and research into nutrition, which is specially focused on the athlete, is brought to our doorstep throughout the year when they spare no expense to bring their sport scientists and the experiential vans to our events. They make themselves available for a chat with anyone who is interested to discuss nutrition.

Nike has a very wide reach and we have come to know them by the superstars that they support. However, in parkrun Nike is putting it all back into grassroots athletics. We have experienced Nike's influence at parkrun in the most subtle ways and in a manner which I know every one of you appreciate. Just observe the 10 club for juniors, the 50 and 100 clubs for the rest of us. Nike has helped us extend an idea to where we now all have something to aim for.

Our newest sponsor is The London Marathon. Dave Bedford and the other trustees see parkrun as an excellent initiative driving grassroots running in the country. The London Marathon's philanthropic gesture will enable faster growth of the parkrun footprint in London and across the country