On November 26th 2011, Sony Ericsson orchestrated the worlds first individual marathon, Xperiathon: a mobile marathon at hundred of places around the world. The participants ran alone on streets, roads and tracks in 17 different time zones - simultaneously. All they needed was willpower and a smartphone with GPS and a running app, like RunKeeper, MapMyFitness or Endomondo.

First prize was a place at the starting line in the since long sold out New York Marathon, while the 40 fastest runners won the new Sony Ericsson smartphone Xperia Active - the best workout phone you can imagine.

The news about the world's loneliest marathon and Sony Ericsson's new smartphone Xperia Active spread through running forums and blogs on running and training. Through Twitter and Facebook, Sony Ericsson motivated registered runners and built anticipation until the race.

To generate even more attention, a series of films were produced starring the internet phenomenon Forever Alone Guy that generated over 100,000 views on YouTube.

During the race, visitors on xperiathon.com could track runners around the world geographically, in real-time. Sony Ericsson has now decided to make Xperiathon a yearly event.

Phase 1 - September 2011Planning the campaign involved learning everything about how to organise a marathon race, as well as interviewing expert runners and organisers. The website was prepared with rules and regulations and a count down to the race.Phase 2 - October 2011The website was launched and the count down began. E-mails were sent to running forums/blogs. Internet films were launched on the website and YouTube to spread the word. During this phase we added/changed content to the site on a daily basis, based on the interaction with the target group, and changed some of the rules after popular demand.Phase 3- November 26th 2011 Race day! The runners' GPS position was displayed on website in real time on a global map.Phase 4 - December 2011Winners were announced on the website, Facebook, and on running forums/blogs. Personalised participation T-shirts could be ordered from website.

The campaign generated an ROI of approximately 2,500% (earned media) in relation to total campaign investment.The race gathered over 500 runners from 17 time zones and 37 countries, had a deep impact on the running community and re-invented the concept of what a marathon could be in a connected age. The initial target was 50 runners from 4 countries.Approximately 400,000 twitter accounts reached. Initial target was 50,000Youtube films got over 100,000 views. Initial target was 20,000.SonyEricsson are so happy with the results that they have decided to make Xperiathon a yearly occurring event.