adidas’ Runner 321 is a social movement created by and for the neurodivergent community to improve their visibility within sport. What started as a moment at the Boston Marathon in 2022, quickly turned into a global movement where hundreds of runners and hundreds of races signed up to get involved, without any media spend.

Not only did we spark a global movement toward inclusion, but we successfully contracted all six of the world’s major marathons to reserve Bib 321 for a neurodivergent athlete, even though four of these races are sponsored by our largest competitors..

When people with Down syndrome don’t see themselves represented in sport, they aren’t able to see what’s possible for them. As a brand, adidas has a unique mission to break down barriers for marginalized communities and demonstrate to the world that ‘impossible is nothing’.

As part of their goal to partner with the best athletes in the world from diverse backgrounds, adidas had recently partnered with Chris Nikic—the first athlete with Down syndrome to complete the Ironman. This partnership made Chris the first globally-sponsored athlete with Down syndrome. Chris is a shining example of what is possible and an inspiration for the next generation of neurodivergent athletes everywhere.

Our goal was to create a social movement for the visibility of neurodivergent athletes within the world’s most accessible sport: running.

Iconic numbers have been revered as a symbol of the best athletes of all time. In reality, they’ve only represented athletes that fit within the confinements of mainstream sport.

Introducing Runner 321, the movement wherein adidas asks the world’s largest organized marathons to reserve Bib 321, representing Trisomy 21 for people with Down syndrome, for a neurodivergent athlete.

We targeted the six world marathon majors—London, Chicago, Berlin, Tokyo, New York, and Boston—to drive global awareness of our campaign. There was only one problem, four of the six marathons are sponsored by our competition. Then the impossible happened. All six majors added Runner 321 to make running a more inclusive sport.

After launch and Chris Nikic’s activation at the Boston Marathon, the campaign became a global movement with runners signing up from all over the world and 252 races from three different continents reserving running Bib 321.

Representation is a critical part of inspiring the next generation of athletes. When you don’t see yourself represented, you don’t see what’s possible. Our strategy was to demonstrate just what neurodivergent athletes are capable of. So we partnered with Chris Nikic, the first globally sponsored athlete with Down syndrome.

Our targets were race organizers and aspiring neurodivergent athletes. We launched the campaign with a video featuring adidas-sponsored athlete Chris Nikic, who has Down syndrome, and offered Chris for media interviews locally and nationally. We then posted content of Chris completing the Boston Marathon and directed our audience to a website for more info and a Runner321 toolkit.

We shared the news under embargo to local and national media a week before World Down Syndrome Day, including a quote from the Boston Athletic Association, assets, and offering Chris up for interviews.

Multiple interviews were secured with Chris, which took place leading up to the day of launch, allowing them to go live right on the day of launch.

Once Chris completed the Boston marathon, we went back out to the media with an update that Chris handed his bib to the next Runner 321, Kayleigh Williamson, at the race.

This pulsed approach allowed us to secure 59 total earned placements leading to 268M impressions, helped get 278 athletes to sign up to be the next Runner 321 and 252 races to commit to adding a Runner 321, and ultimately helped encourage all six of world’s largest marathons to reserve a spot for Runner 321 in their 2023 events.

adidas’ Runner 321 campaign started a social movement that continues to grow. Our campaign hero is Chirs Nikic, a Down syndrome athlete who is also an Ironman, an ESPY winner, a Special Olympics Ambassador, a public speaker, a published author, an adidas-sponsored athlete, and an inspiration to the global neurodivergent community. All other athletes featured in our communications have Down syndrome, creating visibility and awareness of what athletes with Down syndrome can accomplish.

Other results include:

- All six of the world’s largest marathons, including four that are sponsored by Nike, New Balance, and Asics, have reserved a spot for Runner 321 in their 2023 events

- 278 athletes, and counting, have signed up to be the next Runner 321

- To date, 252 races have committed to adding a Runner 321

- 59 earned placements for 268M impressions including Forbes, The Boston Herald, Barstool Sports, Yahoo! and MSN Sports.