Yesterday morning, Virgin Active pulled a sneaky one on Sydney’s biggest running race with a real-life demonstration of their commitment to ‘going the extra mile’ – creating a second finish line exactly one mile after the race’s official end.

Elite runners from the Sydney Striders running group shocked onlookers by not stopping once they passed the official finish line of the City2Surf, continuing to run past the crowds towards Virgin Active’s second finish line in Marks Park, Tamarama.

“We wanted to inject a bit more fun into Sydney’s most iconic fun run,” said Adele Rogers, PR and social media manager at Virgin Active.

“Virgin Active is all about helping people go the extra mile, so what better way to show this than by actually getting people to do it.”

Sydney Striders’ Dave Criniti, who came ninth overall and was the first to cross the second finish line, said: “When Virgin Active contacted us, we were initially surprised, but it sounded like a laugh, so we decided to do it.

“We’re serious about our running, but it’s just a bit of fun anyway. It seemed like a perfect fit.”

Scott Huebscher, executive creative director at Marcel Sydney, the agency behind this stunt, said: “Virgin have a history of doing audacious and cheeky stunts, so this felt right on brand.

“It was guerrilla marketing in the truest sense. Credit to our Virgin Active clients and agency staff for all mucking in to make it happen.”

Virgin Active ambassadors Jill Wright and Brittany Bloomer were there to give support.

CREDITS

Agency: Marcel Sydney

Client: Virgin Active

Head of brand and marketing: Anton Brown

Social media and PR manager: Adele Rogers

Production company: Paperhouse Productions

Director/editor: Tim Kindler