Anniversary Run Marks Olympic Stadium Return
British sporting heroes Sir Chris Hoy, Paula Radcliffe, Nicola Adams and Victoria Pendleton joined 15,000 members of the public at The National Lottery Anniversary Run in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park at the weekend, as the Stadium opened its doors for the first time since last summer’s London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Participants took on the five-mile run alongside current and former British Olympic and Paralympic athletes before being cheered home by 30,000 spectators as they crossed the finish line where Usain Bolt, Jonnie Peacock, Jessica Ennis and Mo Farah were victorious almost 12 months ago.
Hoy, Great Britain’s most successful Olympian, officially started The National Lottery Anniversary Run, while Pendleton swapped the Velodrome for the running track to run the five-mile course with Paula Radcliffe and members of the public, including 1,000 Newham residents. Mayor of Newham Sir Robin Wales also started the race alongside Camelot chief executive Dianne Thompson.
Alex Cornwell from Woodford Green was the first person across the stadium finish line, completing the course in 25 minutes and 40 seconds.
Paula Radcliffe finished with a time of 32:27, while Victoria Pendleton clocked 36:43 for her five miles.
Sir Chris Hoy said: ‘It’s wonderful to see the Stadium back in action for The National Lottery Anniversary Run. To see 15,000 members of the British public so thrilled to take part in sport at this iconic venue is a real legacy from the Games.’
Victoria Pendleton said: ‘London 2012 was the best of times for British sport and The National Lottery Anniversary Run has recaptured much of that spirit. None of the success in hosting the Games would have been possible without funding from the British people through The National Lottery. I’m here today to really say ‘thank you’ to them for all that they do for sport and society.’
The National Lottery Anniversary Run gave the public the opportunity to experience the thrill of competing in the Stadium, as well as running around Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park running past venues such as The Velodrome, The Copper Box and The ArcelorMittal Orbit.
More than 12,500 people took part in The National Lottery Anniversary Run over the 5 mile course – with 2,500 adults and children taking part in a shorter ‘Family Run’ over 1.5 miles.
The event was organised by mass participation experts Nova International and supported by The National Lottery, the London Borough of Newham and the London Legacy Development Corporation.
The National Lottery contributed £2.2 billion towards the funding of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Through mainstream funding, The National Lottery enables over 1,300 elite athletes from 44 sports to train as full-time professionals and provides them with world-class support as they prepare for Rio 2016 and beyond. More than £4 billion has been invested in both grassroots and elite sport from money raised by National Lottery players since 1994.
