Runners kick start huge day of sport in London

Over 17,000 runners signed up for the Saucony London 10k, which kicked off a busy day of sporting action ahead of the final day of tennis action at Wimbledon and the hotly anticipated European Football Championships final between England and Spain.

Setting off from the start line near Green Park, runners passed landmarks like Westminster Bridge, the London Eye, Big Ben and Trafalgar Square, before finishing in Whitehall, not far from the home of the new Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer. It is the only closed-road running event that takes participants down Regent Street, making it truly unique.

Former Team USA Olympian, Jared Ward, who finished sixth in the 2016 Olympic Games marathon joined runners in London, taking part in a heated three-way sprint finish with all of the first three finished completing the event in under half an hour.

After the event, Ward said: “I loved it, you don’t get the opportunity to run through a city like London very often and it’s a beautiful tour of a beautiful city. The fans were great on a beautiful British summer day. I love London, I ran the Marathon here during COVID around Buckingham Palace so I wanted to come back and run properly in the UK as I love London, I love running here with a great fanbase.”

Anya Culling, the British distance runner, crossed the line in a fast time of 00:37:03.

The event is established as one of the leading city-centre 10ks and todays was the first edition with new headline partner, Saucony. The race continued its tradition of creating a buzzing atmosphere along the entire route thanks to supporters, DJs and live bands, pushing the runners across the line.

First Three Finishers – Female
1st – Aubrey Frentheway, 00:32:51
2nd – Vanessa Fraser, 00:33:24
3rd – Becky Briggs, 00:34:34

Top Three Finishers – Male
1st – Seyfu Jamaal, 00:29:41 (London Heathside)
2nd – Jared Ward, 00:29:44 (former Team USA Olympian)
3rd – Matthew Sharp, 00:29:47 (Ryde Harriers)

Antonio Ruiz Sotelo won the wheelchair race with a time of 00:59:08.

The full results are available at: https://results.sporthive.com/events/7213854751430481920/races/490110

This year’s event has seen over £400,000 raised for charities across the event partners and individual runner’s fundraising campaigns. The event’s national charity partners include Cancer Research UK as Headline Charity Partner, Great Ormond Street Hospital, Alzheimer’s Society and Special Effect.

Ian Allerton, Director of Operations for event organisers Motiv Sports UK, said: “Today’s race showed once again that this is one of the standout races in the UK’s running calendar. Congratulations to all runners and thank you to every single person involved in delivering this event and helped raise money for our charity partners.

“Thousands of people came out to celebrate the runners and the city, making it another successful year, and a brilliant first event with our new headline partner, Saucony.”

Florian Sievers, Senior Marketing Director at Saucony, said: “Saucony are so proud to have been a part of such a wonderful event and it’s amazing to see so many people take on London with us.”

To find out more about 2025’s Saucony London 10K, visit www.thelondon10k.com