The Great Run Company reports that Simplyhealth is to become the new title sponsor of the UK's biggest mass participation running series – Great Run – which includes the world's largest half marathon, the Great North Run.

The sponsorship commences with the Great Winter Run and The Great Edinburgh International Cross Country, featuring quadruple Olympic Gold medallist and newly knighted Sir Mo Farah, in Scotland's capital city on Saturday, January 7th.

The agreement will cover events in city locations including Manchester, London, Bristol, Birmingham, Portsmouth, Edinburgh and Newcastle; involving runners of all abilities in distances that range from 5k to the half marathon. The deal also includes the Junior and Mini Great Run events.

Simplyhealth Chief Executive, Romana Abdin, said: "Our sole purpose at Simplyhealth is to help people make the most of life, through better everyday health. Life is better when we are all active – it's not just the preserve of elite athletes and gym lovers. Our new partnership with The Great Run Series will allow us to help even more people get the most out of every day, simply by running, jogging or walking together.

"Charitable giving is at the heart of everything we do and, as official partner, we're thrilled to announce that we have chosen Revitalise as our headline charity for 2017. Every year Simplyhealth donates 10% of its profits to health related charities, which in 2015 amounted to £1.6 million, touching the lives of over two million people across the UK".

Brendan Foster, Chairman and Founder of the Great Run Company, put the new sponsorship deal into context.

"We are delighted to welcome Simplyhealth as the title sponsor of the Great Run series", he said, "and we are excited about the partnership.

"The Great Run Company and Simplyhealth have a common purpose and I believe as partners we can develop something very special by helping change more and more people's behaviours for the better".

Following research, it was recently revealed that participants in the 2016 Great Run Series raised in excess of £50 million for good causes.