Our First National Running Show: ABSOLUTE360 at the NEC in 2020

Every brand has moments that mark another step in its journey. For ABSOLUTE360®, exhibiting at the National Running Show in January 2020 was one of them.

But the story actually began two years earlier, with a customer.

Where It All Began

In 2018, the National Running Show held its inaugural event at the NEC in Birmingham. Behind the show was Mike Seaman, who, as it happened, was already an ABSOLUTE360 customer.

Mike invited me to attend, and I went along as a visitor.

At the time, I was still learning what it really meant to own and run a sportswear brand. There was a great deal I didn't know, and probably even more I didn't realise I needed to learn.

The atmosphere at that first show was infectious. Being surrounded by runners, running brands and people who shared a genuine enthusiasm for the sport was exciting. A conversation with Mike afterwards planted a seed: perhaps ABSOLUTE360 should be exhibiting here too.

But not just yet.

I returned in 2019, once again as a visitor, although this time I was looking at things rather differently. I was observing how other brands presented their products, organised their stands and engaged with visitors. It was an opportunity to learn, to gather ideas and to imagine what an ABSOLUTE360 stand might eventually look like.

By then, the idea had become something more concrete. I made the commitment to exhibit at the National Running Show in 2020.

There was no turning back.

From Plans on Paper to the NEC

The months leading up to the show were filled with preparations.

There were display fixtures to buy, pop-up banners to design, products to organise and stand layouts to sketch on pieces of paper. Every detail seemed important, particularly when you had never done anything like this before.

We were bringing a small but carefully curated range of ABSOLUTE360 sportswear, with particular emphasis on our recently launched [BE SEEN] Running Collection.

Introduced in autumn 2019, [BE SEEN] was designed around a simple idea: helping runners stand out when visibility matters. Its bold neon colours and reflective details were a natural fit for an event dedicated to running.

The ABSOLUTE360 collection on display at the National Running Show 2020, with [BE SEEN] taking centre stage.

And I wasn't going alone.

Our team consisted of five people: myself, my son and three members of my running club. Not an experienced exhibition crew, but people willing to give their time and help ABSOLUTE360 take this next step.

I was excited. Everything had been planned, at least on paper.

Then we arrived at the NEC and unloaded the van.

Suddenly, surrounded by boxes, products, display equipment and an empty exhibition space, I found myself completely overwhelmed.

All those plans that had seemed perfectly manageable beforehand suddenly felt impossible to put into action. I couldn't think clearly, let alone decide what needed doing first.

I had to walk away from the stand for a while to collect my thoughts.

When I returned, something wonderful had happened.

My team had taken charge. Equipment was being assembled, products were finding their places and the stand was beginning to take shape.

What had felt overwhelming only a short time earlier was finally coming together.

Sometimes, the people around you make all the difference.

The team behind our first National Running Show appearance, January 2020.

Two Days That Went by in a Blur

Once the doors opened, the atmosphere was electric.

After two years of attending the National Running Show as a visitor, I was now standing on the other side, representing a brand I had created.

It was exciting, overwhelming and, looking back, almost a blur.

There were runners everywhere, conversations happening constantly and so much going on that it was difficult to take everything in.

Meeting runners and sharing the ABSOLUTE360 story at the National Running Show 2020.

Yet amid all that activity, a couple of encounters have remained particularly vivid.

Two ABSOLUTE360 customers, both of whom had connected with the brand through social media, had made a point of coming to meet us in person.

I recognised one immediately. We had interacted so often online that their face was already familiar. The other introduced themselves at the stand.

These weren't simply people discovering ABSOLUTE360 for the first time. They already knew the brand and had taken the opportunity to come and say hello.

When so much of running a small business happens behind a screen, meeting the people on the other side of those conversations is something quite special.

It was a reminder that ABSOLUTE360 was becoming more than the products we made. There were real people connecting with the brand, following its journey and wanting to be part of it.

A Milestone Worth Remembering

Did the National Running Show 2020 live up to expectations?

The truth is, I didn't really have any.

It was our first time exhibiting, and I had no previous experience against which to measure it. I simply came away feeling that it had gone very well.

What I remember most isn't a particular achievement or result. It's the journey from attending that first show in 2018, to making the decision to exhibit, to finally seeing ABSOLUTE360 standing alongside other running brands at the NEC.

It's the people who helped make it happen, the customers who came to meet us and the excitement of being part of something that brought so many runners together.

Our first National Running Show wasn't simply another event in the calendar.

It was another chapter in the ABSOLUTE360 story.

Umberto
Founder, ABSOLUTE360®