{"id":12940,"date":"2026-09-08T14:25:47","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T12:25:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rotterdammakeithappen.nl\/?post_type=verhaal&p=12940"},"modified":"2026-09-08T14:26:05","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T12:26:05","slug":"rotterdam-running-ambassadors-promote-their-city-on-running-shoes","status":"publish","type":"verhaal","link":"https:\/\/rotterdammakeithappen.nl\/en\/stories\/rotterdam-running-ambassadors-promote-their-city-on-running-shoes\/","title":{"rendered":"Rotterdam Running Ambassadors promote their city on running shoes"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/1″][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”336087″]The Rotterdam Running Ambassadors (RRA) is a running club for Rotterdam\u2019s leaders and entrepreneurs. Every year they run two marathons, one of them abroad, always with Rotterdam in their hearts and on their chests. Because sport is a powerful way to network for both business and city. In 2026, the RRA celebrates its 25th anniversary by running the legendary Athens marathon.<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image media=”12933″ caption=”yes” media_lightbox=”yes” media_width_percent=”100″ uncode_shortcode_id=”725822″][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”559144″]According to Greek legend, a soldier named Pheidippides ran from the battlefield at Marathon to Athens in 490 BC, covering more than 40 kilometres, to deliver a message to his city: \u039d\u03b5\u03bd\u03b9\u03ba\u03ae\u03ba\u03b1\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd. We have defeated the Persians. The effort cost him his life: he collapsed and died upon arrival. That story lies at the heart of every marathon run anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n

This autumn, around a hundred Rotterdammers will run that same route. Not as soldiers, but as entrepreneurs, executives, and city-makers. Welcome to the <\/span>Rotterdam Running Ambassadors.<\/a>[\/vc_column_text]

Not a drinks club. Not a traditional business club. A running club.<\/blockquote>[vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”560655″]<\/p>\n

An idea on running shoes<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It started with a simple thought: you can network while exercising. Actually much better than over drinks or at a breakfast meeting. That\u2019s how one of the founding members once put it. And that idea, pragmatic, no-nonsense, goal-oriented, is typically Rotterdam.<\/p>\n

More than twenty years ago, the City of Rotterdam<\/a>, the Chamber of Commerce, the Port Authority<\/a>, and the Rotterdam Marathon<\/a> came together to found the Stichting Rotterdam Running Ambassadors. The idea: bring a group of a hundred leading and entrepreneurial Rotterdammers together around a shared goal.<\/p>\n

Not a drinks club. Not a traditional business club. A running club[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image media=”12934″ caption=”yes” media_lightbox=”yes” media_width_percent=”100″ uncode_shortcode_id=”134033″][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”173967″]With two marathons a year as the anchor: one at home and one somewhere in the world, in a city that matters to Rotterdam. Since then, the RRA has run in Chicago, Shanghai, Istanbul, Cape Town, Havana, Bucharest, M\u00e1laga, and Lyon. Always with a business programme in the bag. Always with Rotterdam on their chest.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”177603″]A hundred Rotterdammers, one goal<\/strong><\/p>\n

The strength of the RRA lies in the mix. Members are senior managers, medical professionals, executives, and entrepreneurs, varied in age, background, and sector. What connects them isn\u2019t their job title, but the shared experience of training together, suffering through the long training weeks together, in the rain around the Kralingse Plas, along the Maas, and through the Bergse Bos, and above all, finishing together.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s something levelling about a running kit:[\/vc_column_text]

Whether you run a multinational or your own company, on the training route you\u2019re just a runner.<\/blockquote>[vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”212911″]That equality creates something special: real connection. And real connection strengthens professional networks in a way no gala dinner ever could.[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image media=”12935″ caption=”yes” media_lightbox=”yes” media_width_percent=”100″ uncode_shortcode_id=”185770″][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”902817″]<\/p>\n

The fifth lustrum: back to the beginning<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In 2026, the RRA celebrates a milestone: its fifth lustrum, 25 years of Rotterdam Running Ambassadors. And the destination chosen for the occasion is no coincidence.<\/p>\n

Athens. The city where the marathon began.<\/p>\n

With nearly a hundred members, the RRA travels to Greece for the Athens The Authentic Marathon, the only marathon in the world that follows the original route Pheidippides is said to have run.<\/p>\n

The finish line is the Panathenaic Stadium, the same marble stadium that hosted the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. There are few places on earth where running a marathon carries such meaning.<\/p>\n

But the RRA isn\u2019t coming just to run.[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image media=”12936″ caption=”yes” media_lightbox=”yes” media_width_percent=”100″ uncode_shortcode_id=”140039″][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”358103″]<\/p>\n

Rotterdam in Piraeus<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Friday before the marathon, 6 November, is set aside for what the RRA always does when it arrives somewhere: representing Rotterdam. Not with a PowerPoint and a handshake, but with a day that feels like the city itself: direct, warm, and meaningful.<\/p>\n

Part of the programme takes place in Piraeus, the port city of Athens. That\u2019s no coincidence. Rotterdam and Piraeus both rank in the global top ten of maritime cities.[\/vc_column_text]

Two port cities, two communities, one shared language: trade, transport, and ambition.<\/blockquote>[vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”138765″]GasLog, an internationally leading maritime company headquartered on the Piraeus waterfront, is opening its doors to the RRA. Further conversations are underway to shape the business side of the trip.<\/p>\n

Rotterdam Make It Happen is a partner in this story. Because this is exactly what the brand stands for: Rotterdammers going out into the world and taking their city with them.[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image media=”12937″ caption=”yes” media_lightbox=”yes” media_width_percent=”100″ uncode_shortcode_id=”462696″][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”150438″]<\/p>\n

What makes the RRA so Rotterdam?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Rotterdam is a city that asks something of you. Roll up your sleeves. No talk, just action. Not just plans, but results. The RRA embodies that. You sign up, you train twice a week, you run a marathon once or twice a year, and you carry the city with you wherever you go. That\u2019s not a PR strategy. That\u2019s our mentality.[\/vc_column_text]

Be Bold. Move Forward. Make it happen!<\/blockquote>[vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”212459″]The RRA is always open to enthusiastic new members. In November, when nearly a hundred Rotterdammers enter the Panathenaic Stadium after 42 kilometres on the route of Pheidippides, that\u2019s more than a personal achievement. It\u2019s Rotterdam celebrated in the place where it all began.<\/p>\n

RRA\u2019s 5th lustrum during the Rotterdam Marathon\u2019s 9th lustrum<\/strong><\/h3>\n

On 12 April 2027, the RRA will of course once again take part in the 45th Rotterdam Marathon. A lustrum within a lustrum. As tradition dictates, #demooiste wraps up at \u2018The Hub\u2019 in the WTC on the pre-war stretch of the Coolsingel, and this year right up to the finish line. Want to know more about the Rotterdam Running Ambassadors or become a member? Visit runningambassadors.nl<\/a>.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/1″][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”336087″]The Rotterdam Running Ambassadors (RRA) is a running club for Rotterdam\u2019s leaders and entrepreneurs. Every year they run […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12938,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-12940","verhaal","type-verhaal","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRotterdam Running Ambassadors promote their city on running shoes - Rotterdam Make It Happen<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Rotterdam Running Ambassadors run marathons, always with Rotterdam on their chest. 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