The Great Gorilla Run 2016- supported by Bench

September 17th 2016 saw around 500 “gorillas” actively participate in the annual Great Gorilla Run. The run is a 5 mile fun run along the banks of the Thames, Central London. The event is organised by the Gorilla Organization, a charity founded by the late Dian Fossey to protect endangered gorillas in their natural habitat.

We (Bench) always like to leave a legacy in each destination we visit and 2016 is no exception. There are less than 1000 mountain gorillas left in the World today and many of these populate the mountains of Rwanda, so we felt the cause was perfectly aligned with what we are trying to do. Namely, improve African tourism infrastructure in a sustainable way.

Thankfully, on the day of the run, we experienced relatively cool temperatures, but having said that I’m not sure it’s ever comfortable running in a gorilla mask and suit. We passed many perplexed tourists on Tower Bridge and the banks of the river and after a thousand high-fives and a sweaty and difficult last couple of miles, we all made it across the line.

As a team we have raised $2,500 and onsite in Kigali, we conducted a session on how to sustainably promote tourism through conservation and also presented the “big cheque” to the CEO of the charity, Ms Jillian Miller. (pic 0470 attached)

The Great Gorilla Run is incredible fun, a great way to raise much needed funds for conservation and I cannot recommend it highly enough. We look forward to your participation next year.

The “Gorilla Madness” team left to right:
Jonathan Worsley, Chairman Bench; Nick van Marken, Global Head- Advisory, Deloitte LLP; Matthew Weihs, MD, Bench; Raj Kotecha, Head of content, Bench; Jon Howell, MD, AviaDev, Bench