Milk, GALE and Vox Ink Empower Women Athletes with Inspiring Docuseries

On March 8th, International Women’s Day, Team Milk and Vox Media are kicking off a dynamic partnership at SXSW to support and inspire women in running. These collaborative efforts mark the continuation of an exciting venture aimed at empowering women athletes. 

Together, Team Milk and Vox Media have partnered to boost “26.2,” a running initiative created by Team Milk in 2022 to address the significant gap in support of women in sports. As the original performance beverage, Milk is on a multi-year journey to support female marathon runners and demonstrate the nutritional value of milk for runner’s fuel and recovery. What started as a sponsorship of women runners across U.S. Marathons has since become a Team Milk community of 22,000 women strong. Taking this commitment a step further this year, Team Milk is hosting the only U.S. marathon designed for women by women this November in Savannah.

“Milk has been helping athletes of all kinds fuel and recover for centuries. Given how critical women and moms are as a key audience, we remain deeply committed to accelerating visibility and gender equity in sports,” said MilkPEP CEO Yin Woon Rani. “This multifaceted partnership with Vox continues this commitment to highlight the stories and journeys of these remarkable athletes at SXSW and beyond.” 

On the first day of SXSW, Team Milk, Vox Media’s The Cut, Abi Ayres, and local running groups invite women runners and their allies to come out for an International Women’s Day 5K in Austin starting at Fleet Feet Austin. The following day, The Cut and Team Milk will host a "How I Get It Done" panel discussion on women in the sports industry, featuring Dina Asher-Smith, World & European Champion athlete; Haley Rosen, chief executive officer & founder of Just Women’s Sports; and Chloe Kim, American snowboarder and two-time Olympic gold medalist. This is an experiential extension of The Cut’s new “Keep It Moving” editorial section, which launched in January in partnership with Team Milk and will lead up to the inaugural Every Women’s Marathon in Savannah, Georgia, on November 16, 2024. 

“Our partnership with Vox further cements Team Milk’s commitment to supporting female athletes and building authentic connection to their community,” GALE CEO Brad Simms. “We know today that modern consumers engage with entertainment, not ads, and the ‘Running Sucks’ series is another way we’re continuing to break through and steal attention.” 

“We are thrilled to collaborate with Team Milk on such an important initiative. From our activations at SXSW, including the group run and the powerful panel hosted by The Cut, we are excited to further our partnership with Team Milk and continue our commitment to driving positive change and uplifting female athletes,” said Jacqueline Cinguina, chief marketing officer at Vox Media. 

Following SXSW, Team Milk, and Vox Media will premiere “Running Sucks”, a docu series that follows influencer Abi Ayres on her quest to understand the allure of running the NYC Marathon. We follow Abi as she begins training for her first race, encouraged by other female running groups. Through a journey of self-discovery, including setbacks that lead her to reconsider running, Abi finds herself drawn by the magic of marathon day and makes an unexpected decision. Each episode poses the question, “Why run?” The three-part short-form series is premiering within The Cut's new editorial sports section, "Keep It Moving."

“Meeting runners throughout NYC proved to me that there is no such thing as runners and non runners, " said star of ‘Running Sucks,’ Abi Ayeres. “Turns out there is no secret club that you’re not invited to, everyone is welcome. Running sucks, but running is so much more than just putting feet to ground, it’s learning to push yourself in a way no one else can do for you.”

This comprehensive campaign, alongside “Running Sucks,” “Team Milk x The Cut Run For International Women’s Day,” and “Keep It Moving” includes initiatives such as a distance running training program on YouTube by Popsugar Fitness, a Running Week feature on The Strategist, an explainer video, and audio activation distributed across the Vox Media Podcast Network.