Think of the London Marathon and it’s likely that one of the first images to pop into your head will be one of a stream of runners pouring down The Mall towards the hallowed finish line, with Buckingham Palace providing a spectacular backdrop.
Covering those closing yards – the end of the route was moved from Westminster Bridge in 1994 – is an unforgettable moment for anyone who has been lucky enough to experience it and it has inspired countless people down the years to lace up their shoes.
The same could be said for the event’s younger sibling, the Mini London Marathon, which has borne witness to the early stages of some of the finest careers in recent British athletics history.
This year marks its 40th edition and organisers are marking the special occasion by inviting previous championship athletes back to take part in a “40th wave” around the 2.6km course, as well as celebrating the achievements of the youngsters involved.
Josh Kerr (Mark Shearman)
The list of former competitors at the event reads like a who’s who of British middle and long distance running, including athletes such as Keely Hodgkinson, Mo Farah, Josh Kerr, Jake Wightman, Laura Muir, David Weir, Hannah Cockroft, Alex Yee and Alistair Brownlee, to name just a few.
“You’ve got an unbelievable alumni that includes previous winners and participants,” says Hugh Brasher, CEO of London Marathon Events. “Some of the athletes that didn’t even win the Mini London Marathon went on to secure Olympic gold medals.
“There are so many names to choose from but more recently I think of an athlete like Innes FitzGerald. She was crowned a Mini Marathon champion [in 2022] and has gone on to represent Great Britain at the 2025 European Indoor Championships and win international medals at junior level as well.”
The Mini Marathon began in 1986, and in its original guise it took place on the morning of marathon race day, covering the closing three miles of the marathon route and with the action very much focused on the elite competition between junior athletes.
Mini London Marathon (LM Events)
Much has changed about it in recent years, however. Mirroring the main event, there is still that elite element to proceedings at the head of the fields, but now it is open to all and, since 2022 it has been given more room to breathe, taking place the day before the 26.2-mile extravaganza.
The Mini Marathon provides thousands of youngsters with the opportunity to experience the feeling of running, walking or wheeling themselves along those famous roads. Whether they complete one mile (for children in reception to year seven) or 2.6km (for those in years four to 12), participants set off from Horse Guards Parade and finish on The Mall.
Mass participation figures have sky-rocketed and the figure of 8257 finishers from 2023 rose to over 13,000 last year.
Not only is it free for schools to enter but title sponsor TCS donates £10 – which can contribute towards things like computer or sports equipment – for each pupil that finishes.
Such is the event’s growing popularity that numbers have had to be restricted to 40 pupils per school for this year’s edition, with the aim to give more schools across the UK an opportunity to get involved. Organisers are expecting over 18,000 finishers this month.
Mini Marathon winners (London Marathon)
“Evolving the Mini London Marathon was very much something we started looking at around 2018,” adds Brasher. “It was a semblance of an idea of: ‘Why can’t we make the Mini London Marathon something bigger and better?’
“We wanted to keep the essence of elite competition but what else could we do? How could we do it? That’s when we had conversations with TCS as a sponsor and they just loved the whole idea of kids getting rewards, whether that be computer or sports equipment.
“We then started looking at schools in more underserved communities and those where sport wasn’t intrinsically part of a typical day. The first year we put this new event on was 2022 but that was in the midst of the Tube strike, which rather affected the numbers!”
Mini London Marathon organisers are now targeting 50,000 finishers by 2030, which wouldn’t be far off the estimated figure for the full London Marathon itself this year.
James Dargan and Jake Wightman (LM Events)
“Given we’re a few years into this new format, schools are starting to see the Mini London Marathon as a real fixture in the calendar,” says Ben Cooper, Event Lead at the Mini London Marathon. “They will have these dates in the diary now. Schools are coming back to the mass event year-on-year and they’re bringing different groups of children.
“It’s a pretty unique experience, especially for kids who haven’t been involved in a mass participation event as well. They may have never been on a start line and they almost certainly haven’t run in front of Buckingham Palace on closed streets.”
Both Brasher and Cooper also stress the importance of making sure that the positive impacts of the Mini London Marathon aren’t just felt on the day itself but across the year. The ambition is for this to be a catalyst that helps more children to be active and, given some alarming recent statistics, there is a pressing need for that aspiration to become a reality.
Mini London Marathon (Mark Shearman)
In December, Sport England stated that, for the 2023-2024 academic year, just 47.8 per cent of children met guidelines of taking part in an average of 60 minutes or more of sport/physical activity every day.
“We want to build this out so there’s year-round activity because of the chronic inactivity of kids in schools,” says Cooper. “It has to make a difference in the longer-term.
“They’re getting their £10 per finisher and they’re starting to put that back into PE equipment, so kids can see the impact on what they do at school.
“There’s a buzz of participation around it and I know, when we go into schools and meet both pupils and teachers, they are hugely excited about the event.”
Parkun
Two years ago, the London Marathon Foundation also gave £1.19m to junior parkrun – a weekly event in which children aged four to 14 tackle a 2km course – to support its growth. In the first year of the partnership, 51 new junior parkruns across the UK opened and a total of more than one million children took part.
“The singular purpose of London Marathon Events and the London Marathon Foundation is to inspire activity,” says Brasher. “We believe there’s a real ecosystem of: ‘Start with the Daily Mile, do junior parkrun, then do the Mini Marathon and after that the English Schools Championships’.
“The more we can build that base pyramid, then the more people we can inspire into road running and athletics, creating a better sport for everyone. We’re trying to create a virtuous circle to get kids active.”
Mini London Marathon (LM Events)
The other initiative that both Brasher and Cooper point to is the Mini London Marathon in Schools. Born out of the pandemic, participants are invited to run, jog, walk, wheel or be guided around a two-mile course within their school setting (this year’s timeframe is from April 22 to May 2). Since launching in 2020, more than one million children have finished the event, with each pupil receiving a certificate and every school receiving a trophy for being involved. The expectation this year is that, on top of the 18,000 people running in the heart of London, more than 400,000 will take part in physical activity locally.
“There’s something that’s almost unquantifiable about seeing the faces of kids when they cross the finish line, whether that be on The Mall or at their school,” says Cooper.
“There is such absolute elation when they finish because it is a huge achievement. It’s priceless. You never quite know what’s going to stay with a child when they grow up.
“You do think: ‘This is going to stay with them forever’ and with a bit of luck it will have a really positive impact on their future.”
