Some people buy a newspaper to read the news. Others buy it to find their own name in it. 

For years, I’ve been struck by the role The New York Times plays in the New York Marathon. People buy the print edition to find the page where their name appears. Some of them frame the page and hang it on the wall — before filming it and posting it on TikTok and Instagram. Not because they won, but because they completed something that mattered to them — and a major newspaper made them part of the story.

At Stavanger Aftenblad, this sparked a simple question: Could we create something similar for runners in our own region, only in a visual, digital form? Not just a results page but a service that makes people feel recognised and gives them something they want to keep, share, and pay for.

That was the start of RUN.

We launched it at exactly the right moment. Running is in the middle of a global boom, and in our region, the trend is even stronger. Our region has a strong running culture and is home to some of the fastest runners in the world, including the Ingebrigtsen brothers.

This combination gave us a clear opportunity: build a service for a growing audience that already cares deeply about running.

Results for regular runners, not just winners

In practical terms, we built a real-time results service for the growing number of recreational races across Rogaland: 5Ks, 10Ks, half marathons, and marathons. We connect race results with photos we take along the course and create shareable “cards” that combine the runner’s image, result, and the Aftenbladet logo. They are made for Strava and other social platforms.

This changed our perspective as a newsroom. Traditionally, race coverage focuses on the winners. We wanted to include everyone. That made our coverage more accessible and more in tune with what running really is for most people: a personal best, a finish line or a shared experience. RUN reflects all of these goals and makes race coverage more inclusive and more engaging. 

Race stories and result services were already strong sellers for Stavanger Aftenblad. But this experience used to be fragmented, hard to search, and unpredictable from one race to another. With RUN, we built a better product with a team of Web developers, AI specialist, UX designer, and a photographer — all from Schibsted and Stavanger Aftenblad.

Rethinking the process

We built a workflow where our photographers deliver images in real time while races are still ongoing. We built technology that connects photos and results faster and more precisely. And we made it possible to cover many more races across the region than before. We can send one photographer to a valley, a small town, or a rural community – and let the technology do the rest.

RUN has changed our local news coverage in an important way. People experience that their newspaper is present where they live and run. And because we publish as the race unfolds, people can follow the event live through updates and images as if the runners were professional athletes.

Technology plays a key role in the success of RUN. Still, one key lesson is that technology does not drive itself. You cannot launch a new product and assume it will succeed on its own.  

To take it further, we assigned a skilled journalist with knowledge and close contact with the audience. Inga, an experienced runner herself, became that person. 

She oversees RUN day to day, engages directly with the running community, follows up with partners, sees what needs adjusting, and brings energy and credibility to the project. The technology connects a bib number to a result, but Inga connects the product to people. That makes a huge difference. 

RUN has become a commercial success. Every time there is a race, RUN rises to the top of Stavanger Aftenblad’s subscription charts. This project has turned into one of our biggest subscription drivers.

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