European Athletics encouraged by strong Global Running Day response

European Athletics, a supporter of the GRD for the third consecutive year, has promoted the event to its 50 Member Federations and reached out to the organisers of all 600+ races. The variety of the planned runs, from big events to small and everything in between, has been inspiring.

The IAAF recently announced that it would celebrate the GRD with the IAAF Run 24:1, a series of 24 one-mile runs that will be contested around the world on June 6. The IAAF initiative will see races held in two dozen cities across 15 time zones that will each start at the same local time to create a 'simultaneous' worldwide celebration of running. For more information on the IAAF Run 24:1, click here.

Run Bulgaria will be part of the IAAF Run 24:1 project and has invited everyone, regardless of age or ability, to participate in the June 6 run in Sofia. This run will serve as an appetizer for the larger Run Bulgaria event that will see 5 runs over 5 days in 5 parks in Sophia from July 2 to July 6. A 3x1 mile relay for beginners will get the show on the road at 7 a.m.

Staff at the European Athletics headquarters in Lausanne have formed a team to participate in a morning run on June 6.

Global Running Day is a grassroots project initiated by New York Road Runners (NYRR) for people of all abilities and backgrounds to come together and celebrate their passion for running and inspire others to get moving.

European Athletics recognises the values of such an initiative and is proud to be a Global Supporter of Global Running Day along with Running for All and the European Running Business Conference, the first edition of which was held in Frankfurt, Germany last October. The host city of the 2019 edition is expected to be announced soon.

European Athletics is encouraging all event organisers for the upcoming European Week of Sport (September 23-30) to consider including Running For All races and spreading the word by asking people to pledge to run on June 6.

To engage socially with Global Running Day, runners can take part in the conversation by using the hashtag #GlobalRunningDay hashtag.

Global Running Day toolkits for events, communications and social media are available on the GlobalRunningDay.org website and runners of all ages and abilities can pledge to take part on June 6 via GlobalRunningDay.org.