Created by BEAM and Saucony, Run4Good is an easy-to-use, full-featured running app that also enables users to run towards collective mileage goals that when reached triggers the doubling of cash donations from Saucony and its corporate partners to fight childhood obesity.
An emerging triad of running, charity, and technology is the driving force behind the new Saucony Run4Good app. According to Running USA's 2012 State of the Sport, Americans are running in record numbers and the rise in charity runners is fueling a second running boom. Likewise, the survey reports that the U.S. running community is fast becoming an app nation unto itself, with running apps set to increase more than tenfold by 2016, according to market research firm ABI Research.
Recognizing the confluence of these trends, Saucony and BEAM designed the GPS-enabled app, opening the door for runners everywhere to join the fight against childhood obesity without entering a charity race or opening their wallets. Each month, when a predetermined mileage goal is reached, Saucony and its corporate partners will double their donations to selected youth running programs, inspiring individual runners to unite over their passion for running and to combat the childhood obesity epidemic. On the app's monthly leader boards, runners can challenge friends or form teams that compete to accumulate mileage toward the monthly goal.
"After talking to runners, we knew they would welcome an app that enables them to support a great cause every time they hit the road," commented Dave Batista, partner and executive creative director at BEAM. "But to get them to even think about switching from their current app, or to start using one for the first time, we had to deliver the core functionalities they care most about - pace, time, calories burned, and run and route history - more simply than the other apps out there.
Once we nailed those features, we could start to harness the spirit that's makes 5K and 10K charity races a staple of the running world and let runners apply that spirit every time they shoe-up for a run. Needless to say, we felt it was important to keep the runners' contribution focused on miles, not dollars and let Saucony, and their corporate partners, make the contributions. This way, we're just asking runners to do what they love - run; even sign-up is super-minimal."