DDB copywriter Ulrika Rupā or Omnicom Media Group New Business Director Jānis Rungulis? Which of them would finish first in the New York Marathon? A game forecasting the result could be found on their joint blog: ullapretjani.lv, in which they documented the competition that evolved on several fronts – woman versus man, pink against black, blonde versus Latvian grey, contact lenses versus glasses and Latvia against Moldova (Jānis was living in Moldova at the time). In truth, their goal was to prepare for their first marathon, to run it and share their experience with others and inspire them.

From a simple blog whose author Oskars Cirsis from CUBE is a friend of both of them, everything evolved into a unique project. It moved not only active leisure enthusiasts and fans. Thanks to some small investments and the support of a few helpful companies, the project attracted unexpectedly large media and public attention.

In support of the running initiative, draugiem.lv posted a challenge banner on its website, the LTV1 morning show “Labrīt” invited both to its studio and announced the results after the marathon, while the “Viss notiek” programme produced a report from Central Park and Mayor Ušakovs even wished Ulla and Jānis success via Radio 101.

Like the results of the marathon (Ulla’s finish time: 3:48:56, Jānis’ finish time: 4:07:01), the results of the Project exceeded their silent expectations: the site was visited more than 22,000 times, 1,200 voters played the prediction game, while about 300 fans shared the blog and during the marathon their friends not only followed the race and shared the results on Twitter and Facebook, but also organised a supporting run along the streets of Rīga. And now inspired by Ulla and Jānis, two Latvians have applied to run next year’s New York marathon.

Even though Ulla beat Jānis, they secured a bigger victory in beating themselves. They achieved this and now they are convinced that anybody who enjoys running can do the same.