This weekend, two iconic events return to the heart of London with thousands set to complete the Vitality Westminster Mile and the Vitality London 10,000.
On Saturday 21 September, participants of all ages and abilities will run, jog, walk or be pushed around St James’ Park in the celebrated one-mile distance of the Vitality Westminster Mile, one of the most successful legacy events from the London 2012 Olympic Games.In 2024, the inaugural British Milers Club Bannister Mile will take place as some of the fastest middle-distance runners in the country attempt to run under four minutes – a feat that has never been achieved at the Vitality Westminster Mile – in the 70th year since Roger Bannister became the first person to run under that mark. Athletes include Joe Wigfield, ranked eighth-fastest man in the country over 1500m this year (having set a personal best of 3:36.09 in July) and Katie Snowden, fourth-fastest woman over the distance in the UK in 2024 who narrowly missed out on qualification for Team GB at the Paris Olympics. There will also be some veteran records on the line with current Masters indoor champion over 1500m, James Thie, and world-record setting hairdresser-turned-steeplechaser, Kirstie Booth, targeting history in the V45 category.
Six-times Paralympic Games gold-medalist David Weir will be taking part in the Wheelchair Wave alongside some inspirational young people. It will be Weir’s first event since he stepped down from Great Britain duties following his fifth-place finish in the men’s wheelchair marathon at the 2024 Paralympics in Paris just more than a week ago.
There will be new and returning waves at the Vitality Westminster Mile, including those in partnership with Children with Cancer UK, the Ruth Strauss Foundation, Westminster City Council, Blueprint for All, Bloomsbury Football and London United. The Jr. NBA Wave, which is open to 11 to 14 year-olds and is supported and promoted by Basketball England to junior basketball players and schools in London, returns and the world-famous NBA Championship Trophy will be on display in Green Park.
On Sunday 22 September, about 20,000 runners will take part in the Vitality London 10,000 on the closed roads of the capital. The route travels past some of London’s most iconic landmarks, including Admiralty Arch, St Paul’s Cathedral, the Bank of England, Somerset House, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey, before finishing in front of Buckingham Palace.
The runners likely to head the pack include Eilish McColgan, the fastest British woman in history over 10K and a 2024 Paris Olympian. The winner of the elite women’s race at The Big Half two weeks ago, Eilish will be joined by the men’s champion at the same race and 2023 Vitality London 10,000 winner, Jack Rowe.
Fresh from his excursions at the Vitality Westminster Mile, David Weir will be racing in the Vitality London 10,000 alongside 10 other wheelchair athletes, having won the event on multiple occasions in the past.
In 2024, participants are celebrating their running communities at the Vitality London 10,000, and how the connections made through running inspire us to be active and create lasting friendships. Recognisable faces include Jo Pavey, a three-times winner of the Vitality London 10,000 and five-times Olympian, who is now an ambassador for Running at 40 Plus; TV personality and DJ Adele Roberts, who is celebrating those who supported her to setting a Guinness World Record at the 2023 TCS London Marathon as the fastest woman to complete the run with a stoma, and is now targeting a similar feat by completing all six Abbott World Marathon Majors in a year; Scott Mitchell, widower of the late Dame Barbara Windsor, and his partner Tanya Franks, whose relationship grew as a result of their shared love of exercise; actors Jake Wood and Adam Woodyatt; and Kitty Scott-Claus, participant on RuPaul’s Drag Race Global All Stars, with her friend Jeremy Joseph, owner of G-A-Y.
On both days, the popular Vitality Wellness Festival returns in Green Park with a host of activities and sports on offer for free for all the family.