Case Studies
Bob Champion Aintree Legends Race 2011
In the year that Charles married Diana and Bucks Fizz won Eurovision, Bob Champion (recovering from testicular cancer) and Aldaniti (recovering from a serious leg injury) created a real life fairy story by winning the Aintree Grand National.
30 years later - and a few weeks before William married Kate - Bob Champion rode on that hallowed Aintree turf once again, in a special John Smith's Aintree Legends Charity race on Grand National Day.
Liz worked with Bob, his team and the Aintree and John Smith's teams on all aspects of the race - organising the line up of 12 'legends', sourcing the horses, fund-raising, publicising the race, managing all associated events and looking after logistics on the day.
A huge success and a very emotional day with the race shown on BBC1, over £100,000 was raised for the Bob Champion Cancer Trust.
Racing Post Books 2010 - the McCoy campaign
From the moment 'AP' won the John Smith's Grand National on April 10th 2010, the team at the Racing Post knew that this was the year to publish a tribute to him using 17 years of the unique Racing Post archive. Liz worked on the team to plan, publish, sell and publicise the book.
The aim was not only to produce a best-selling title, but to use this for the benefit or racing and the hope that McCoy would become the first jockey ever to win BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
The book campaign included an extensive programme of interviews and signings for its editor, Brough Scott - which included coverage in the Times, Telegraph, Mail, Mirror and Guardian and appearances on Channel 4, Sky Sports, Radio 4, talkSport and 5 Live.
As a result McCoy was short-listed at the Sports Books Awards for Best Publicity Campaign.
'AP' also won BBC Sports Personality 2010.
Richard Dunwoody's 1000 Mile Challenge 2009
From 29th May to 10th July 2009 Richard emulated Captain Barclay's feat of 200 years ago by walking 1000 miles in 1000 hours - walking one mile in every consecutive clock hour and only able to sleep for about an hour at any one time over a period of 42 days.
Richard finished this remarkable feat accompanied by the legendary jockey Lester Piggott on Newmarket racecourse in front of packed stands, and whereas Barclay achieved the feat for a 1000 Guineas bet, Richard undertook it for charity, raising almost £200,000.
Liz and her team managed the whole project from the outset, sourcing sponsorship, writing the website, putting together the celebrity programme (which included names such as HH Sheikh Mohammed, Michael Holding, Jilly Cooper, AP McCoy, Ryan Moore, Dean Richards and a Bond girl!), co-ordinating the logistics, PR and all fund-raising working with the four charities. The Challenge achieved mass media coverage including BBC1 News, BBC Breakfast, ITV, Channel 4, Radio 5 Live, Radio 2, The Telegraph, Mirror, Sun, Observer, Independent and Racing Post.
Amundsen Omega 3 South Pole Race 2008
In December 2008 / January 2009 the first race to the South Pole for almost 100 years took place in the footsteps of the great duel between the British Scott and the Norwegian Amundsen. Competitors from all over the world took part including Double Olympic Gold Medallist rower, James Cracknell, TV presenter, Ben Fogle, and blind Irish motivational speaker and adventurer, Mark Pollock.
Liz worked with the race organisers, sponsors and agents on the publicity and PR for the whole project, initially organising the high profile press launch at the Absolut Ice bar in London and then managing the media when the race itself was underway. Coverage was extensive across national print and broadcast media worldwide. A BBC documentary, On Thin Ice, was also made and shown on BBC2 in 2009.
