Sony Ericsson inspires marathon runners

Sony Ericsson sponsors Run to the Beat
Sony Ericsson sponsors Run to the Beat

Sony Ericsson has launched the second annual 'Run to the Beat' half marathon, designed to get people running long distances and using the science of music to propel them through.

Sony Ericsson will also be releasing handsets to complement the event in the coming months, after the success of tying the W705 handset, with GPS and 'Tracker' software inbuilt, to the event last year.

Hitting the community

Richard Dorman, senior marketing manager for Sony Ericsson in the UK, told TechRadar: "For us, the involvement [with Run to the Beat] is being able to talk to the wider running community and show them how to get the most out of their handset, that there's a real benefit to having the phone with you while training.

"You might be seeing a handset to fit in with this event, and you'll hear more from us soon in terms of the hardware."

The event will take place on the 27 September, and will see competitors voting on their favourite styles to be played by live performers around the course.

Less air needed

Sony Ericsson and organisers IMG Mass Participation Sports have conducted research into the science of music and its relevance to running, and have found that incorporating tunes into your strides can improve performance by up to 20 per cent, with up to six per cent less oxygen needed.

Those of you wanting to get involved with the event can head on over to the website to register... TechRadar is considering doing it if they can get Dolly Parton to come and sing '9 to 5' to keep us going through the first mile before we give up.

Gareth Beavis
Formerly Global Editor in Chief


Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.