If you live in London, or indeed within easy travelling distance of the capital, there is absolutely no reason at all not to sign up to be part of the I Move London Relay team this July. And there are several absolutely excellent reasons why you should sign up.
The first is to be part of a world record. The event will see runners cumulatively cover 4,000 miles (6,437km) between 29th June and 29th July, far more than the current Guinness World Record for the longest relay race, which stands at 3,504.28 miles.
The second reason is that you don’t have to cover more than 5K or 10K of that massive distance yourself, because the stages are broken down into smaller chunks that just about anyone can manage. For the 10K legs you will need to maintain an average pace of at least 11 minutes per mile (6min 50sec per kilometre), but you can join the 5K legs regardless of the speed you run.
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Each stage is open to up to 50 runners so you can expect a good atmosphere for your leg even if you pick one in the dead of night on a Wednesday. Each stint of the relay will start from Potters Fields Park, near Tower Bridge. Runners on the 10K legs follow the Thames down to Westminster Bridge before crossing and heading back up to Tower Bridge, while runners of the 5K leg cross at the Millennium Bridge.
We’re still not done with the reasons to get involved, by the way. In fact the most important one is to come, which is that you’ll be raising money for three excellent charities: Laureus, The Running Charity and Sported, which all use sport as part of their efforts to tackle problems like homelessness and gang culture. The organisers of the event also hope to unite London by getting runners from all 120 postcodes and every borough in the city to take part.
So that’s 5K at any pace or 10K at a manageable pace, for three great causes and a world record, and you have a 30-day period to pick up a convenient time in. For our money the only reason not to get involved is if you don’t manage to book your spot at londonrelay.co.uk before it sells out. Entry to a stage cost £20, and while there is no compulsory fundraising target you are, naturally, strongly encouraged to raise money for the I Move London Relay’s charity partners.
I Move London Relay is part of Asics’ I Move Me campaign
