From the Trade Fair to the City: Insights from the ISPO Munich Sports Week

The spectators of the ISPO Munich Night Run presented by BUFF® observed a glowing caterpillar in the Munich night sky, which rose higher and higher until it reached the summit of Munich's Olympic mountain and drifted back down to the valley. It was a true spectacle that closed the opening day of the ISPO Munich Sports Week last Saturday.

The caterpillars, alias runners, were brightly lit by their headlamps, which showed them the way up the Olympic mountain.

The ISPO Munich Sports Week 2019 is celebrating its second edition. Since the 2nd of February, ISPO Munich has again opened its doors to people in Munich with various events. True to the motto: from trade fair to city, from trade visitors to consumers, B2B plus B2C. Sports fans can take part in numerous events until the 9th of February and try themselves out. Even after the fair ends on Wednesday, Sports Week will continue.

Klaus Dittrich, Chairman and CEO of Messe München, took part at the ISPO Munich Night Run presented by BUFF®, too, with the starting number 276 as one of 641 runners. "It is really a unique experience to run at night in the Olympic Park. A great atmosphere, a new record number of participants," he raved about the Night Run. But he didn't win. Over the 5 kilometes race another prominent participant won: ultra runner Florian Neuschwander.

"For one week, retailers, brands, sports clubs and other players from the sports industry will bring the sports euphoria of the trade fair into the city and thus involve consumers," said Markus Hefter, Project Group Leader at ISPO Munich, about the Sports Week.

Munich's plogging enthusiasts met at the Globetrotter Store at Isartor for the Sympatex Plogging Event. Plogging is a mixture of jogging and garbage collection and stands for the sustainability trend in the outdoor industry demanded and achieved by customers.

Even the inventor of plogging, Erik Ahlström, ran along. For almost an hour, the participants collected garbage in downtown Munich.

The Globetrotter Store near Marienplatz is already a popular meeting place for those interested in sports as part of Sports Week. FIFA19 tournaments were held there until Wednesday. The winners of the day were able to enjoy a 150 Euro voucher from Globetrotter, an ESL language course and a Nitro Daypacker backpack.

"eSports is a major trend and will also play a major role on the sports market in the future. We consciously want to venture something new in our adventure branch and address new customers", said Claudia Dreibrodt, Marketing and Event Manager of the Globetrotter branch in Munich.

Not only the sports retailers, but also Munich companies take part in the Sports Week. At the Summfit Bodyworkout from the Burda Bootcamp in Arabellastraße on Sunday, the sports fans gave the workout "Gunnbjorn Field" a try.

If you want it to be a little more cuddly, you will get your money's worth later in the Filmtheater at Sendlinger Tor. The cinema showed the premiere of the Adventure Tour with the "Nuit de la Glisse" outdoor film by director Thierry Donard. The crew flew all over the globe, from New Zealand via Tahiti to Pakistan and the Alps. The audience was spellbound and watched the sporting performance of the actors.

Anyone who has just gotten in the mood for more in the Alps can take a shuttle bus to Lenggries from the Mammut store in Frauenstraße in Munich on the 9th of February (8 a.m.). There the ISPO Munich Sports Week 2019 offers its last big highlight: an avalanche training in the terrain.

By the way, the people of Munich can already look forward to further days of sporting participation: OutDoor by ISPO (June 30 to July 3) will also feature a number of events for the Munich public. Then the so-called OutDays will start for the first time.