Kevin Betts, Director of tech platform Run Things, is looking to help businesses improve staff happiness and wellbeing through its fitness challenges.
Every business owner needs a productive workforce, but this doesn’t happen on its own.
Teams need to be supported and nurtured to perform well, with happiness, health and productivity deeply interlinked.
A 2023 study published by consultancy WPI Economics found that employees with good physical and mental wellbeing were nearly 2.5 times more likely to be happy at work. It also found that healthy, happy employees were more productive and took fewer sick days.
Clearly, investing in staff mental and physical wellbeing has benefits to businesses and the people working in them, but how to achieve it?
Fit-tech entrepreneur, Kevin Betts, might have your answer. He heads up Run Things, along with co-founder Clare Rixon, which is an online platform which helps individuals, teams, and businesses get fit and stay motivated. “We host events that track physical activities,” he explains. “We’re gamifying fitness and encouraging people of all fitness levels to stay active.”
The platform, which launched in 2018, allows users to link up with fitness apps like Strava and upload activities. There’s an element of healthy competition via league tables, helping users hit fitness goals. “People who take part in our events get a medal and guaranteed fun,” Betts says.
Real-time tech and purpose
The technology behind the platform is innovative, allowing users, such as businesses, to give their staff a fitness challenge and see progress in real time. “The platform is able to createbespoke events that fit the needs of all our clients,” he says. “we could work with a business to give their staff a challenge to cycle around the globe in a month. Our tech then shows what is left to cycle and where people sit on both team and individual leaderboards.”
One of the things Betts is most proud of with Run Things is its “purposeful lack of profit-making.”As both Kevin and Clare work full-time, Run Things is primarily a vehicle to raise money for mental health charities, making it a purpose-led organisation at its very core. “We give 50% of the profits from event entries to these charities, always have, always will,” he says.
“We’ve both been affected by mental illness in the past,” explains Betts about why he and his co-founder started the business. “We’ve seen the positives and negatives of social media and we’ve used it as a force for good, creating a huge community of people who love to run, love to stay active and love to support each other.”
As we approach the final quarter of 2025, Run Things has one of its biggest events on the horizon. The Run Up to Christmas. An advent-themed running and walking challenge, it has over 2,500 people take part each year.
Run Up to Christmas – a wellbeing motivator for staff
Betts explains how it works: “It encourages people to stay active during party season, and businesses can take part and create a team to get employees to think about their health during such a busy time. Teams get their own league tables, too, so there’s a competitive element.”
The brand hit a milestone with the event in 2020: “Our Run Up to Christmas event hit 5,000 participants that year.”
Like any business, Betts says there were early teething problems, including the challenge of building a strong following. “Staying visible in a dynamic environment was tough, as was stopping others from stealing our niche and ideas,” he admits. “But we’re extremely committed, and our loyal participants love what we do and the ethos we have.”
Bringing in businesses
Moving into the business market is the next step, including “offering staff wellbeing alternatives and creating new challenges for businesses to take on.” Part of this includes an app and working closer with business clients on events: “We’ll be able to provide them with unbelievable statistics they can use in their annual staff wellbeing and HR reports,” Betts explains. “This includes how many hours of activity the participants have done, for instance. Or how far they have run, walked, cycled or skied. There’s so much information we can provide!”
As an organisation with impact at its heart, the folks at Run Things measure success by how much they have raised for charity, which is over £100,000 currently. “That’s huge for us,” Betts beams. “We’ve also had emails from people who have said taking part in our events stopped them feeling lonely, and from people who say our events helped them stay alive. We’ve had people meet through our events and have gone on to form friendships, relationships, marriages and have had children. Success, for us, is having a hobby that’s a business that does good.”
Kevin and his team have solid ambitions going forward. A major one is to diversify the number of people taking part in its Run Up to Christmas event, including “the number of businesses using our platform for staff wellbeing.”
“Essentially, we’re keen to support SMEs to take care of staff mental wellbeing and offer alternatives to the standard party season offering. Entries are only £17 for the 25-day event, that’s less than a quid a day per person!”
So, if you’re an SME looking to motivate staff in a different way over the Christmas period, and make them feel happier and healthier in the process, it’s time to link up with Run Things.
Click here to find out more about Run Up to Christmas 2025. info@runthings.co.uk
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