Raccoon Media Group are launching a brand-new show, the International Running Expo (IRX).
Raccoon are experienced at holding shows, they run events such as the National Running Show, the National Outdoor Expo, the National Cycling Show, The Boston Run Show and the Boston Outdoor Expo.
The International Running Expo, to be held in RAI Amsterdam on November 4-5, 2025, will be a tradeshow dedicated exclusively to the European running market. This business-to-business event brings together high-level industry professionals to showcase the latest product launches, technologies, trends and innovations. It will facilitate meetings between running brands, retailers, wholesalers and distributors.
Mike Seaman, Group CEO of Raccoon Media Group, said: “Where it came from is that we couldn’t find any large scale B2B gathering for the running market in Europe. There’s a big show in America and that seems to be the only one of scale in the world. We didn’t think that made any sense.
“It’s covered slightly by events like ISPO. But we thought with our connections and contacts we might be able to bring something to market. We spent six months researching and developing this concept and we realised that the retail market is slightly different because some brands are going B2C and some brands are still valuing that specialist retail network. And, actually, most brands are trying to use both.
“So, we wanted to create something that actually enabled brands to do business B2B with specialist retail, but also have some kind of a B2C activation in there as well.
“The concept we came up with was splitting the industry into three. You’ve got industry, which is brands, then you’ve got the industry side, which is influencers or aggregators – media, high-profile influencers and associations – and then retailers and specialty retailers.
“And we said, OK, we want 6,000 people at this event and we want 2,000 from each category. And that’s where the idea was born.”
The International Running Expo held a launch party, on November 6, in Amsterdam attended by press, media, top buyers, leading brands and influencers Susie Chan and Dean Karnazes.
Mike added: “We wanted to have 20 brands confirmed by the time they launch. We’ve actually got 26.”
Some of the brands that have confirmed are Acid Running, Bear Hug, CXP Sports, Gato Sports, Jason Markk Gofluo, goodr, GU Energy, Nike Vision, Oxsitis, Runderwear, Vaga, Veja and Tailwind Nutrition.
Mike added: “We’ve confirmed some really high-profile influencers as well. Such as Susie Chan, Colin Jackson, Paula Radcliffe, Ian Morgan, Jonny Davis, Judith Havers and John Regis.”
Mike believes the event has a particular USP. He said: “I think the unique piece about IRX, particularly for brands, is the opportunity to engage large scale retailers, but also those small independents.
“It’s such a hard job for brands to talk to hundreds and hundreds of retail partners, give them all the right level of care and attention and get face-to-face with them.
“There’s a lot of specialty retailers that are engaging with brands via an online platform and that doesn’t feel appropriate to a market which is based on touch, feel, colourways and weight and really delivering an educated premise to a consumer about, what these products are. We felt that having an opportunity to do it face-to-face was obvious.
“So IRX is about sourcing product for the future, about retailers seeing what’s new and coming through and brands passing those messages on to the key influencers, media outlets and to key retailers.”
Raccoon is also reaching out to retailers to invite them to the event by hosting them in Amsterdam.
Mike said: “Retailers are often quite hard for brands to reach and there’s a slight level of distrust, like are you really going to get them there?
“One of the things we’re doing to ensure their attendance and for select retailers we will host them.
“We’ll pay for their flights and accommodation on the condition that they come into the show and they do a certain number of meetings. We are willing to incentivize retailers to get in the room and have meaningful discussions with brands.”
Raccoon Media Group Ltd was founded in 2018 with the launch of the multi-award-winning National Running Show and over the next few years went on to launch many popular consumer events in health and wellbeing markets. The business has expanded significantly since its inception and is now a dynamic, scaled, high-growth media business focused on mobilising passion-led B2C and B2B communities across the globe.
