Global Running Day is a day that celebrates the sport of running. It is held annually on the first Wednesday of June. Participants of all ages and abilities pledge to take part in some type of running activity by submitting their names through the Global Running Day website. Global Running Day 2022 will take place on June 1.

History

Global Running Day was formerly known as National Running Day and began in the United States. The first event was in 2009. The inaugural Global Running Day was held on June 1, 2016. More than 2.5 million people from 177 countries pledged to run more than 9.2 million miles. New York City Mayor,

Bill de Blasio Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who served as the 109th mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he held the office of New Yor ...

, declared June 1, 2016, to be Global Running Day in the City of New York. 2014

Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by several cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was i ...

winner Meb Keflezighi led a group run from the Boston Run Base, and the Atlanta Track Club organized a “run around the clock” event, where at least one person from the Atlanta metro area would be running every hour of Global Running Day. In 2017, the International Association of Athletics Federations supported Global Running Day. “The IAAF fully supports the Global Running Day and is proud to invite all of our Member Federations to join us and the world’s leading race organisers in this massive celebration of the sport," said IAAF CEO Olivier Gers. In 2018, New York Road Runners celebrated its 60th anniversary on with a finish line celebration on Global Running Day on Wednesday, June 6, during the same week NYRR was founded in 1958. In 2019, many local running stores and clubs held independent events. For example, the Carmel Runners Club in Indiana did a group run that ended at a brewery. Runners’ Choice in Kingston, Ontario, had a group run with giveaways. In 2020, Global Running Day was virtual due to COVID-19. The 2021 event will also be virtually hosted globally by the New York Road Runners with a free virtual 1-mile event from June 1 to June 6.

The Million Kid Run

The Million Kid Run is the youth division of Global Running Day and aims to have one million kids around the world participate in Global Running Day. Its focus is on making fitness fun, and inspiring kids to embrace running as a way to remain healthy and fit. In 2016, 672,030 youths took part. For the Inaugural Million Kid Run, students from around the world participated.

Global supporters

More than 100 organizations support Global Running Day and the Million Kid Run, including the Abbott World Marathon Majors,

Atlanta Track Club Atlanta Track Club is a non-profit, running organization for the Atlanta metropolitan area in Georgia, United States. It hosts over 30 events a year including the Thanksgiving Day Atlanta Half Marathon/5K and the AJC Peachtree Road Race. Atlan ...

, Boston Athletic Association,

Competitor Group Competitor Group, Inc. (CGI) is a privately held, for-profit, sports marketing and management company based in Mira Mesa, San Diego, California. The company owns and operates over 40 large scale running, cycling, and triathlon events; of which inc ...

, Houston Marathon Foundation, International Association of Athletics Federations, Athletics for a Better World program, National Cleanup Day, New York Road Runners, Plogging, Running USA,

USA Track & Field USA Track & Field (USATF) is the United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 and ...

, 100meta - Grupo de corrida e caminhada and more.

References

{{reflist Annual events Recurring events established in 2016 Running June observances Wednesday observances Holidays and observances by scheduling (nth weekday of the month)