A sound mind
in a sound body
Committed to helping people stay healthy
COVID-19 has increased the risk of mental health problems. The threatened convergence of physical and mental health makes our founding philosophy more real than ever. Therefore, we have committed to supporting some of the projects below to help people move for their physical and mental health after the pandemic.
EKIDEN: Running together to uplift the world
By taking part in our annual virtual ekiden-style relay marathon, anyone from anywhere in the world can share the joy of reaching a common goal together. Now in its third consecutive year, ASICS World Ekiden 2022 was held from 10-22 November 2022. The relay divided the marathon distance (42.195km) into six sections (3x5km, 2x10km, 1x7.195km), and up to six people could register per team. In 2022, 22,257 people signed up for the ASICS World Ekiden. So far the virtual race attracted 118,844 participants in 32,919 teams, running for more than 70,000 hours to cover a distance of 578,823 km – equivalent to more than 14 laps around the earth.
Empowering young people through sports
We wanted to make a bigger impact by engaging our customers, raising awareness, and encouraging them to donate too. Three initiatives helped us meet our 2023 target to engage consumers through stronger integration of our community activities with our business, while generating more support for young people.
A family Runkeeper challenge
From 5-31 December 2022, families registered for the challenge and started running together. There were 14,286 applications to participate from people in Japan, Australia and the United States. ASICS made a donation in connection to the initiative.
The Dam tot Damloop race
Participants of the largest business running event in the Netherlands, the Dam tot Damloop, could donate to Right To Play when buying tickets. They could also register their name and bib number, then post a finisher photo on social media; for every photo we donated €10 to Right To Play, raising €10,000. A Right To Play team of 150 runners raised another €25,681.94.
Our E-Commerce site
In 2022, a new E-Commerce function to donate during checkout was introduced for consumers in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the USA, and Japan. Donations at checkout at our Dutch and UK E-Commerce sites went to Right To Play, and in the USA donations supported the US National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).
Understanding people’s State of Mind
The ASICS State of Mind Index and the Mind Race – research ASICS conducted with Dr Brendon Stubbs at King’s College London – revealed a strong link between mental well-being and physical activity. The State of Mind Index looked at the relationship between people’s state of mind and exercise. Edelman Data & Insights carried out the study with 37,000 people in 16 countries.
ASICS’ State of Mind study and find the full results here.
“There is a common perception that you need to move for a long time to experience the uplifting benefit. However, our new research proves this is not the case – just over 15 minutes of movement is actually all it can take to experience the positive impact. Coinciding with the State of Mind Index, which demonstrates the positive link between movement and mental health on a global scale like never before, we hope it will be inspiring for many to see the impact that such a small amount of movement can have.”
Dr. Brendon Stubbs
King’s College London