Marathon proves winner for Evening News

THE Edinburgh Marathon race may have been gruelling for some; for local newspaper, the Edinburgh Evening News, it was a sales winner.

Figures just in reveal that the reporting of the race – including details of how entrants finished – resulted in a 16 per cent sales hike.

The paper sold over 7,000 extra copies on the 27th of last month, when it printed a 12-page ‘marathon special’, with pictures, finishing times and positions for all the runners who had taken part in the race two days previously.

Some 5,400 copies had been pre-ordered by participants when they signed up to the event, with a further 2,000 sold on the day by newsagents.

Said Gordon Santana, head of newspaper sales at the Edinburgh Evening News: “For big local events and stories in the capital, people still turn to the Edinburgh Evening News.

“Planning this project with the marathon organisers started 12 months ago. They got the benefit of working with one of Edinburgh’s strongest brands and we benefited from the link with their professionally-organised event. It was a staggering increase in sale.”