Congratulations! The Daily Mile celebrates its 10th birthday

Friday 29th April 2022

By Sue Gyford

The Daily Mile has been celebrating its 10th birthday, with a flagship event in Dundee and celebrations around the world.

Children from local schools gathered in Baxter Park to get active together, and celebrate a decade of the physical activity programme.

We are so excited to be in Dundee celebrating The #DailyMile10thBirthday with local schools! Children will be doing their #DailyMile throughout the morning alongside @MareeToddMSP & other VIP's! We can't wait to all get moving together 🎉

#WorldDailyMileDay pic.twitter.com/ulDpuHUxuT

— The Daily Mile UK (@_thedailymile) April 28, 2022

The Daily Mile sees school children encouraged to jog, run or push a mile or 15 minutes every day, as part of their regular school timetable.

Youngsters take part in the playground or school field in their regular clothes, with no need for special kit or equipment.

It’s a Scottish success story, originating at St Ninian’s Primary School in Stirling, where in 2012, head teacher Elaine Wyllie decided to set a class the challenge of running round the school field and realised how few of them could manage it.

She decided to ask them to do it every day and very quickly saw the physical and mental health benefits as the pupils improved their fitness, focus and energy.

In the intervening decade, the idea has caught on around the world, with more than 3 million children in 87 countries taking part. In 2020, scottishathletics committed to work in partnership with The Daily Mile to help further its aims of a more active nation.

CEO of scottishathletics, Colin Hutchison, said: ‘We’re delighted to wish a very happy 10^th birthday to our partners, The Daily Mile.

‘It’s a brilliant initiative that has introduced so many youngsters to the joy of getting active with their friends, reaping the rewards for their physical and mental health.

‘We look forward to many more years of working with The Daily Mile to help keep Scotland active.’

Elaine talks more about the origins of The Daily Mile in this video –

3+ million children ✅
14,000+ schools ✅
87 countries ✅

It’s our 10th birthday & we couldn’t have got here without our Founder @Elaine_Wyllie & the amazing support of our partners, schools, teachers & children – THANK YOU!

Join the movement NOW ➡️ https://t.co/LUQSAr73Em pic.twitter.com/UBdMOjaUal

— The Daily Mile UK (@_thedailymile) April 28, 2022