World 1500m champion Jake Wightman will officially start the biggest ever TCS Mini London Marathon on Saturday 22 April.

Now in its second year as a stand-alone event, held the day before the TCS London Marathon, a total of 10,000 children and young people have registered to take part in this year’s TCS Mini London Marathon.

The event will consist of 2.6K and one-mile races, all held around St James’s Park and sharing the same world-famous Finish Line on The Mall as the TCS London Marathon.

There will be mass participation waves for pupils aged 4-17 from schools from around the country and championship races for the best young athletes in the UK.

Wightman, who won his historic gold medal at the World Championships in Oregon last summer, took part in the Mini London Marathon in 2008 and 2009 and will return to be the official starter of this year’s event.

Wightman said: “It’s fantastic to be welcomed back as the official starter of the TCS Mini London Marathon. Taking part in the Mini London Marathon was always one of the highlights of my year as a youngster, so to be returning as the starter is a real privilege. It’s a special feeling to run in front of Buckingham Palace and finish on The Mall – I’m sure all the kids will love it. I hope everyone taking part has a brilliant day and it’s the start of a lifelong enjoyment of being active for everyone taking part.”

To encourage participation and support schools, every participant aged 17 or under who finishes the 2023 TCS Mini London Marathon will earn a £10 voucher from title partner TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) for their school to spend on PE or IT equipment. Last year, schools that benefited from the £10 donation were able to purchase new PE equipment, including brand-new basketball posts, gymnastics mats and jumping tables, badminton rackets and footballs.

Ramkumar Chandrasekaran, HR Director, UK and Ireland at TCS, said: “At TCS, we believe that through running we can inspire healthy choices amongst children. In our second year as title partner of the TCS Mini London Marathon, we are delighted to see the event grow in size and popularity with increased participation, which will lead to more donations and support for schools.”

Ben Cooper, Event Lead of the TCS Mini London Marathon, said: “We are incredibly excited to welcome Jake to this year’s TCS Mini London Marathon as our official starter. I’m sure all the children and young people taking part this weekend will be inspired by Jake and his fantastic achievements. The power of getting children and young people active shouldn’t be underestimated – it makes a huge difference to children’s wellbeing and mental health, and we hope the TCS Mini London Marathon will be the start of their journey to an active life.”

Entries for the 2023 TCS Mini London Marathon in central London on 22 April are now closed, but schools can still sign up to be part of the TCS Mini London Marathon in schools, which is aiming to create a new Guinness World Records title for ‘the most pledges received for an exercise campaign in one month’.

Now in its fourth year, the TCS Mini London Marathon in schools is a free-of-charge challenge for children and young people to run, jog, walk or wheel one mile in their schools any time between Monday 17 April to Friday 12 May.

Schools can enter the TCS Mini London Marathon in schools for free here.