I worked with NIKE Portugal from day one in Last lap, and one of their biggest events was a 10K race in Oeiras: Corrida do Tejo.
They had partnered with Oeiras City Hall for the past 6 years, as main sponsor and co-organizers of the race. During those years, we were working for Nike, managing several parts of the race, but Nike was in charge of creating the visuals.
Aligned with their global strategy, every year there was an international visual identity, created for many 10K races around the world like, to name just a few, Madrid, Philadelphia, Seoul, Quito, Rome, etc…
In 2013, after Nike left the project, Oeiras City Hall partnered with Lastlap to continue the race’s growth without the support of a major brand. Matching that momentum was the main challenge.
From early conversations with Oeiras City Hall, I got to know a little bit better what the scope of this project was, what were its main intents and goals. And they were a little more than “just” creating a new visual to a popular race. Here are the main 3 insights that were established:
The race had benefited from Nike’s visibility and the running boom in Portugal, but it also had a 40-year legacy and loyal veteran participants. The new identity needed to appeal to long-time runners as much as new ones.
Corrida do Tejo belongs to Oeiras City Hall, and the new branding needed to highlight the city—not just the event. With Nike gone, they wanted their role and image brought back to the forefront.
Finally, we tried to find out what distinguished Corrida do Tejo from so many others in the country? What made it stand the test of time and be so popular?
Research showed the race’s biggest draw: its riverfront course. Over 70% of the race runs alongside the Tejo, and the scenery is what participants value most. This became the signature element.
During those 6 years, Corrida do Tejo benefited from Nike’s media power and loyal costumer base, as well as an increase of Running popularity in Portugal to raise their participant’s numbers. But this race has been around for 40 years now (2021), and had a loyal fan base of veteran runners (and some local running teams) that have always given this race a solid participant’s base.
So the “new face” had to appeal to those “Old costumers”.
Another very important thing to try to incorporate into the design, was the client. In this case: Oeiras city Hall.
Corida to Tejo was theirs, and they were our client. And for them, promoting a 10k race was not only promoting sport activity for their population, but served also as greeting card for Oeiras. Having a major sports brand as partner takes a lot of the limelight, and they wanted the spotlight back.
So the “new face” had to appeal to those “Old costumers”.
Finally, we tried to find out what distinguished Corrida do Tejo from so many others in the country? What made it stand the test of time and be so popular?
Did some research on runners’ feedback about participating in the race, and the answer was crystal clear: The beauty of the course itself. The breathtaking views that runners have, from run alongside the river for more than 70% of the 10Km were, by far, the most important race feature mentioned. It was, quite frankly, emblematic.
I began with these insights and constant client feedback, approaching the design from the runner’s perspective—essentially an early UX mindset.
Finally, we tried to find out what distinguished Corrida do Tejo from so many others in the country? What made it stand the test of time and be so popular?
Research showed the race’s biggest draw: its riverfront course. Over 70% of the race runs alongside the Tejo, and the scenery is what participants value most. This became the signature element.
Runners also pass several Oeiras landmarks. I integrated silhouettes of five key locations—each representing an area the city wanted to highlight: heritage, sports, environment, business, and tech. Placed along the course, they connected the race map with the city’s development narrative.
So I picked 5 Landmarks to represent each development area. They were distributed along the course of the race, from start to finish, as any potential participant would see them when looking at the course map.
With all elements aligned, I developed the logo, colour palette, typography, and graphic guidelines for Corrida do Tejo 2013.
The visual identity was designed for flexibility, using logo elements and the colour palette across a wide range of physical and digital materials. These are a few examples of how the race visuals were applied.
Each year, the visuals were refreshed to incorporate new sponsors or update the race jersey. I worked on the 2013–2015 editions. In 2016, a completely new identity was created.
Here are samples from 2014/2015, where the naming gained more volume and shadows, the course curves and river were removed, and the runner graphic was used more selectively. The distinctive silhouette remained a key element.
