Introducing Ben Mason, Founder of Glow in the Park and Leading Sporting Events Entrepreneur
Ben Mason founded Votwo Ltd and Votwo Action and Adventure Ltd in 2004. Votwo is named after ‘VO2 Max,’ the gold standard measurement of an athlete’s cardiovascular fitness. After eight years in the Royal Marines, Ben decided to use his personal love of adventure and athletic sports to inspire others to challenge themselves, whether individually or in teams. He realised that sporting and fitness events were the best match for his own experiences and personal motivations.
Votwo run sporting events throughout the year including triathlons, duathlons, trail running challenges, running races, open water swims, adventure runs and aquathlons. Votwo also operate the Porsche Human Performance Centre at Silverstone – a specialist sports science lab dedicated to improving the performance of motor racing drivers and endurance athletes.
However, Ben spotted a gap in the sporting events market which would appeal to a more mainstream demographic, specifically women in the 30 – 50+ age bracket. When he got involved in timing a friend’s night time 10km race, he became interested in the impact that the course LED lighting had on the ambience, even though that was very much a ‘hard core’ event. It got him thinking and he asked around friends, family and key contacts to bring his Glow idea to life.
Ben explains his thinking: “I believe in empowering people through physical activity to achieve their best personal results. Many women I know are interested in keeping fit and in shape but it’s not always easy, especially when juggling family, work and busy lives generally. Glow in the Park is all about getting people to enjoy themselves – while managing to achieve a 5km.
“I picked the 5km distance because in my experience, it seems within reach compared to a 10km, a half marathon or a full marathon, especially for people who don’t run and train intensively but who want to join in. The growth in Glow numbers bear that out as does the feedback we’re getting from all kinds of individuals, each with their own reasons for having a go.
“Most participants are women although they’ll sometimes drag along their other halves and kids to get ‘glowed up’ and look silly with them! The thing that all participants have in common is that they want to have fun and achieve something. I am delighted that they are getting that from Glow in the Park and look forward to expanding the event programme, both in terms of getting to more venues across the UK and also internationally.
“We are already working with a number of commercial partners but obviously the more who get involved, the better each event will become over time.”
When he’s not running Glow in the Park and other Votwo events, Ben can usually be found on his surf ski, near his seaside home in Cornwall.
Visit www.glowinthedark.cok.uk and www.votwo.co.uk for more information about 2017 events.
