As London’s youngest sibling gets older this year, organizers hope it can once again serve as a catalyst to inspire the next generation and create a healthier future.
The Mini London Marathon celebrated its 40th edition last year and organizers marked the special occasion by inviting athletes from previous championships to take part in the ’40th Wave’ around the 2.6km course, as well as celebrating the achievements of the young people involved.
Around 18,000 people set off on Horse Guards Parade and crossed the famous finish line on The Mall, including both the championship races, which include the under 13, under 15 and under 17 categories, and a mass participation element.
The list of past competitors in the event is a who’s who of British middle and long distance running, including the likes of Keely Hodgkinson, Mo Farah, Josh Kerr, Jake Wightman, Laura Muir, David Weir, Hannah Cockcroft, Alex Yee and Alistair Brownlee.
That’s what makes the London Mini Marathon so special. Since 2022, it has been given more breathing room, which takes place the day before the 26.2-mile extravaganza.
The event gives thousands of young people the chance to experience the thrill of running, walking or driving on these famous roads. Whether they run one mile (for reception children up to year seven) or 2.6km (for four to 12 year olds).
For Ben Cooper, event leader of the London Mini Marathon, the prospect of seeing 50,000 children cross the finish line, still a target for London Marathon events, is a tantalizing one. Progress is steady, with 22,000 finishers expected on Saturday (April 25).
“It’s all about inspiring activity,” says Cooper. “We took it from what was already there a significant event, but it was previously held on the morning of the London Marathon, which probably attracted more than 20,000 people.
“It’s still a big jump to 50,000, but it’s something we’re really focused on achieving. Honestly, a few years ago, if you said, would we have reached 22,000? I would probably scratch my head and wonder how we’re going to do that.
“But what we do every year is we set high standards and a really good experience for the athletes. We want to nurture it with care so they still have that positive experience and take away the good memories.
“Someone like Keely is an inspiration to all athletes and the same goes for our para and wheelchair channels where they will see what David has done and want to be a part of it.”
This year there will be a new under-12 championship category and there are also ambitions to expand the Mini London Marathon into schools, where participants are invited to run, run, walk, steer or be led around the two-mile course in their school environment.
Since launching in 2020, more than one million children have completed the event, with each student receiving a certificate and each school receiving a trophy for taking part. Aiming to get children involved in physical activity locally, not just in central London, the aim is to get just half a million children to take part in the initiative this year (this year’s deadline is 25 April to 1 May). Organizers aim for that number to be one million by the end of the decade.
Such is the breadth of the Mini London Marathon, in which children from all over the UK take part. Fair Isle Primary School, in Fife, is the smallest school with just three pupils. Le Voies School in Guernsey is a social, emotional and mental health school, while patients at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital will also be active around their care on the day.
“We want to help kids get into the habit of being active,” adds Cooper. “We want young people to exercise regularly and regularly, whether it’s at the park, through the Daily Mile, getting involved with their local athletics club or simply putting on a pair of trainers and going for a run.
“We think we can help providing that moment of inspiration. I think the fact that we have schools from the Shetland Islands to Guernsey encapsulates the magic of the London Marathon and the feeling it gives people goes beyond just one city.”
Over the past three years, the London Marathon Foundation has also given £1.19m to the Youth Run, a weekly event where children aged four to 14 take part in a 2km run, to support its growth.
According to the 2024/2025 Junior Park Impact Report, there is a 26% increase in weekly completions between 2024 and 2025. This period also saw 27 new events start, with eight per cent in the lowest deprivation quartile, and 265,000 different young parkgoers taking part.
Sport England announced yesterday. for the 2024/2025 academic yearthat the number of children and young people (aged 5-16) taking part in sport and physical activity in England is at its highest level since the body launched the Active Lives Survey in 2017-18.
The report also showed that more than half a million (580,000) children met the Chief Medical Officers (CMO) guidelines for participating in an average of 60 minutes or more of sport and physical activity each day than seven years ago – a 5.8% increase.
However, children and young people from the least affluent families are the least likely to be active, with only 45% meeting the CMO guidelines, compared to 58% from the wealthiest families.
