On International Women’s Day, Team Milk, GALE, and Vox Media inked a dynamic partnership to support and inspire women in sports. These collaborative efforts mark the continuation of an exciting venture aimed at empowering women athletes.
Together, Team Milk and Vox Media have partnered to boost “26.2” – a running initiative created in 2022 to address the significant gap in support for women in sports – through the premiere of “Running Sucks”, a docuseries that follows influencer Abi Ayres on her quest to understand the allure of running the NYC Marathon.
The series follows Abi as she begins training for her first race, encouraged by other female running groups. Through a journey of self-discovery, including setbacks that lead her to reconsider running, Abi finds herself drawn by the magic of marathon day and makes an unexpected decision. Each episode poses the question, “Why run?” The three-part short-form series is premiering within The Cut's new editorial sports section, "Keep It Moving."
“Milk has been helping athletes of all kinds fuel and recover for centuries. Given how critical women and moms are as a key audience, we remain deeply committed to accelerating visibility and gender equity in sports,” says MilkPEP CEO Yin Woon Rani. “This multi-faceted partnership with Vox continues this commitment to highlight the stories and journeys of these remarkable athletes at SXSW and beyond.”
At SXSW, Team Milk, Vox Media’s The Cut, Abi Ayres, and local running groups invited women runners and their allies to come out for an International Women’s Day 5K in Austin starting at Fleet Feet Austin. The following day, The Cut and Team Milk hosted a panel discussion on women in the sports industry, featuring Dina Asher-Smith, World & European Champion athlete; Haley Rosen, chief executive officer & founder of Just Women’s Sports; and Chloe Kim, American snowboarder and two-time Olympic gold medalist.
This was an experiential extension of The Cut’s new “Keep It Moving” editorial section, which launched in January in partnership with Team Milk and will lead up to the inaugural Every Women’s Marathon in Savannah, Georgia, on November 16, 2024.
“Our partnership with Vox further cements Team Milk’s commitment to supporting female athletes and building authentic connection to their community,” said GALE CEO Brad Simms. “We know today that modern consumers engage with entertainment, not ads, and the ‘Running Sucks’ series is another way we’re continuing to break through and steal attention.”
This comprehensive campaign, alongside “Running Sucks,” “Team Milk x The Cut Run For International Women’s Day,” and “Keep It Moving” includes initiatives such as a distance running training program on YouTube by Popsugar Fitness, a Running Week feature on The Strategist, an explainer video, and audio activation distributed across the Vox Media Podcast Network.
As the original performance beverage, Milk is on a multi-year journey to support female marathon runners and demonstrate the nutritional value of milk for runner’s fuel and recovery. What started as a sponsorship of women runners across U.S. Marathons has since become a Team Milk community of 22,000 women strong. Taking this commitment a step further this year, Team Milk is hosting the only U.S. marathon designed for women by women this November in Savannah.
