Every year, more than 2,500 different companies take over Fælledparken for the DHL Relay Race, which always takes place in August.

During the past 45 years the relay has grown into one of the world’s largest exercise event, and the interest in participating is high and growing.

The companies participate in groups of 5, each covering 5 km – either as a relay runner or on a joint walk through and around the beautiful Fælledparken. Many also have assistant cheerleaders who help with the good atmosphere and the community and the party that the participants emphasize as the best thing about the DHL Relay.

But who exactly is taking part? Are there common traits between the many participants?

The short answer is no.

But we do know why they participate – we’ll come back to that.

From Novo to the local church
The longer answer is that the list of participants ranges from large companies like Novo Nordisk, Danske Bank and Nordea to large public sector organizations like the City of Copenhagen and the University of Copenhagen – and to a very wide range of small companies.

The small law firm, the local church and running club are also well represented in Fælledparken for the DHL Relay. And all industries are wearing their running shirts – the doctor’s office, the brewery, the construction company and the police.

A summer tradition
The large Danish public sector workplaces began participating in the DHL Relay Race to a larger extent from 2001.

The trend of offering employees an event where they come together for exercise and fellowship has continued and grown since then – helped along by the Walk route introduced by Sparta in 2016. With an alternative to running even more colleagues could could enjoy the event.

For many workplaces, the DHL Relay is the only annual gathering for all employees, and has become a summer tradition for many.

And from surveys of participants, it’s clear that the social aspect and the cohesion it creates in the workplace is a big part of the joy of participating.

In 2024, the participants’ Top 3 best things about DHL Relay Copenhagen:

• The atmosphere
• The interaction with colleagues
• Shared experience to look forward to

For DHL Relay Copenhagen 2025, 160,000 people are expected to participate from around 2,500 different companies.

The biggest participants
In terms of numbers, the biggest participants at DHL Relay Copenhagen 2025 are Novo Nordisk, the Capital Region of Denmark, the City of Copenhagen, the University of Copenhagen, the Danish Armed Forces, Danske Bank Group, Salling Group, Nordea, Novonesis and Gentofte Municipality.

Number of teams
Novo Nordisk 2700
Region Hovedstaden 1350
Københavns Kommune 800
Københavns Universitet 750
Forsvaret 600
Danske Bank Koncernen 500
Salling Group 370
Nordea Bank DK 314
Novonesis 300
Gentofte Kommune 280