Edinburgh Marathon announces Albert Bartlett as title sponsor

The Edinburgh Marathon has announced that Albert Bartlett has signed a title sponsorship agreement with the North Berwick based company. From now on the event will be known as the Albert Bartlett Edinburgh Marathon. Albert Bartlett & Sons Ltd is Britain’s leading grower and packer of root vegetables. With the company having been founded in Coatbridge in 1948, the Bartlett family has been in the business for sixty years. They are fiercely committed to natural farming with minimum interference, hence their slogan “Naturally Grown, Naturally Tasty”. Geoff Sims of the Edinburgh Marathon explained the benefit to the Marathon of having signed the deal: “We are delighted to have Albert Bartlett as the title sponsor of the marathon. Edinburgh Marathon Ltd and Albert Bartlett will work together to continue to give Edinburgh a top class marathon. Albert Bartlett have a nationwide reputation for quality", he said, "and their commitment to providing high quality, naturally grown produce for a healthier life style makes them an ideal sponsor for such a great sporting charity event as the Edinburgh Marathon". Today, the third generation of the Bartlett family runs what is arguably Britain's biggest vegetable supplier. Every week a fleet of trucks leave their loading bays to supply the nation with one six of its fresh potatoes, carrots, onions and parsnips. John Hicks from Albert Bartlett commented on the reasons for his company's involvement: “We are committed to promoting healthy living both in terms of a healthy diet and physical activity. We believe that our partnership with the Edinburgh Marathon will provide another great platform to deliver this message and are delighted to be supporting the event.” It is worth noting that Albert Bartlett is already involved with athletics in Scotland and the company has supplemented its ‘Healthy Living’ activity by supporting Scottish athlete Joanne Finch with a bursary. The seventeen year old 800m runner has been earmarked as a talent of the future by double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes. Edinburgh Marathon Ltd also has a strong commitment to Scottish and UK charities. Last year runners raised £2 million for charity. This year the event has set an ambitious target of raising £2.5 million for the 100+ charities affiliated to the marathon.   E&OE