🏅 Lee Valley Athletics Centre is the place to be on Wednesday 4 February for a packed evening of top-class indoor athletics courtesy of the 2026 Ayo Falola Dream Mile.
NEWSFLASH: The Ayo Falola Dream Mile is a wrap for 2026! Review 👇
👀 Check out our ATHLETICS section here for more events coming up in the capital. Including the London Marathon and London Diamond League.
2026 REVEW
The 2026 edition of the Ayo Falola Dream Mile did not disappoint! A memorable men’s A Race saw saw no less than four athletes go sub-4 minutes. Something which had never happened before in an indoor meet held in the UK. Jack Higgins was victories in a time of 3:56.89, beating his brother Ted Higgins (3:57.05) to the line with a late surge. 2024 Ayo winner Joseph Tuffin was third in 3:59.06 with Harry Wakefield (3:59.17) completing the quartet of men under 4 minutes.
In the women’s A Race, Molly Hudson justified her pre-race favourite status. The 23-year-old put in a dominant display, winning in a time 4:32.36. Hudson was over eleven seconds ahead of Saskia Millard in second. In the women’s B Race rising U15 prospect Madison Kindler impressed once again winning in a time of 4:51.34.
Multiple world age-group record holder Claire Elms landed yet another Masters record. Her time of 5:25.07 set a FV60 world indoor record for the mile. And Andrew Ridley broke his own world record in the M60 mile with a time of 4:44.12.
On a night full of standout Masters performances, Shaftesbury Barnet’s Kojo Kyereme clocked a time of 4:26.62 to set a new M50 British record for the mile. Harry Wakefield ran 3:59.07 to set a new M35 mark. performances. Peter Giles claimed the M80 British mile record stopping the clock at 6:48.50.
2026 PREVIEW
It’s a big year for athletics with the Commonwealth Games (Glasgow) and European Athletics Championships (Birmingham) taking place in July/August, followed by the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest in September. Get in the mood with the 2026 Ayo Falola Dream Mile meeting. A rare opportunity to watch a host of elite athletes up close and personal as they race indoors over various distances including the iconic mile.
AYO FALOLA DREAM MILE – INTRODUCTION
The Ayo Falola Dream Mile meeting (see below for event history) is a unique opportunity for talented juniors to share the stage with internationals at the Lee Valley venue used as a training base by many Team GB athletes.
A packed night of action will start at 6pm with racing through until just after 8pm. The Dream Mile races will headline the show.
Various mile races will start proceedings from 6pm. Then just before 6.50pm a series of invitational junior events will take centre stage. These are BMC Races over 800m. Elite action will commence from 7.15pm with a women’s 400m (for sub-55s athletes) followed by a men’s 400m (for sub-48s athletes) race. All eyes will then be on the elite women’s mile race (at 7.40pm) and men’s elite mile race (at 7.49pm). Cash prizes are up for grabs for the top 3 finishers in each of the A Races. Rounding off the evening at 8.05pm is a men’s classic masters M55/60 mile race.
See below for the timetable in full and ‘Ones to Watch’.
Race start lists and results can be viewed here.
📽️ Live stream here.
DJ Kevin Stewart will be in attendance throughout the night to keep the atmosphere pumping. On Running will have their own area where athletes and spectators alike can try out their trainers and spikes.
Free massage therapy will be be available from Touch Tuina who have worked with numerous world-class athletes including boxer Anthony Joshua and Jamaican sprint star Yohan Black. Food and drink options will be available for purchase throughout the event.
2026 ‘ONES TO WATCH’
Women’s Mile Races
In the A Race (7.40pm) Molly Hudson is fresh off two BMC wins and PBs set over 1500m and 800m and will likely start as favourite. The race features a very talented crop of U17 athletes – Isabella Buchanan, Ezrah Harrold, Maisie Mullet, Heidi Woodley and Sonny Allen – who have their sights set on the British U17 women’s mile record of 4:43, currently held by Lyla Belshaw.
In the B Race (7.33pm) rising U20 star Olivia Forrest is set to return after posting a time of 4:46.55 in 2024. Also on the start line is U15 prospect Madison Kindler aiming to improve the UK indoor mile record she set at last year’s meeting. Kindler will meet Belgium’s Maxine Libens-Thein who is eyeing her U15 national record.
Multiple world age-group record holder Claire Elms heads a strong masters line-up in the D race (7.57pm). This includes Laura Haggerty and Zoe Doyle.
Men’s Mile Races
In the A Race (7.49pm) Joseph Tuffin (pictured below and main picture above, No.81) is aiming to reclaim the 2024 men’s Ayo Falola Dream Mile title he won in a track record time of 3:59.24. Up against him are the Higgins twins – Ted and Jack. They return to the Lee Valley Track after a 2025 in which they gained Team GB international vests. Ted has a 1500m pb of 3.37 and Jack an 800m pb of 1.45. Thomas Dodd is the fastest athlete on paper with a mile PB of 3:56 set recently in the US. Harry Wakefield is aiming to become the first British M35 to do sub-4 indoors over the mile.
Shaftesbury Barnet’s Kojo Kyereme – the M50 indoor 800m world record holder – is entered in the C Race (6.32pm). Rounding off the evening a Masters Mile (8.05pm) features a super-strong line-up of mile record holders including Mark Symes (M55), M60 800m world record holder Robert McHarg and Andrew Ridley who broke the M60 mile world record at last year’s Ayo Falola Dream Mile meeting.
TICKETS, TIMINGS & TRAVEL
🎟️ Spectating: Free entry on the door.
🕒 Timetable of races:
🚊🚗 Travel tips: Travel tips: Car parking is free for all visitors with over 300 places available. There are also bus routes and train stations close to the venue. See this ‘Plan your visit‘ guide on the Lee Valley Athletics Centre website.
2024 RESULTS – AYO FALOLA DREAM MILE
CONGRATULATIONS to Joseph Tuffin (pictured below and main picture above, No.81) who won the 2024 men’s Ayo Falola Dream Mile in a track record time of 3:59.24. Tuffin overhauled Tyler Billiard (3:59.33) in the last few metres of a compelling race. Rory Leonard was third in 3:59.55.
Shaikira King (below right) claimed a classy front-running victory in the women’s dream mile in a time of 4:43.22. Only just missing out on the UK U17 record. Oliver Forrest was second in 4:46.55 with Olivia McGhee completing the podium places in a time of 4:47.83. Zoe Doyle set a new British W50 record of 5:09.98.
On a night of track records there was also a world record! Claire Elms raced to a time of 5:30.89 in the women’s elite mile B race. The fastest clocking ever for a mile in the W60 category and an age-grading of 103% for good measure.
The women’s elite 400m race was won in emphatic style by Lina Nielson. A week later she finished second in the Indoor British Championships (behind her sister Laviai) in a PB of 51.95.
Check out the Graham Smith Photography website here for a full gallery of pictures capturing a memorable night of athletics at Lee Valley.
Photos: Graham Smith
ABOUT THE AYO FALOLA DREAM MILE
The event is named after the renowned coach and former sprinter Ayo Falola who sadly passed away with cancer in 2015. Tributes and more on Falola’s life can be viewed on the Athletics Weekly website.
Set up in his memory the ethos of the Ayo Falola Dream Mile meeting is to inspire youngsters by enabling them to compete on the same stage as international athletes.
The youngsters take centre stage at the beginning of the evening and stay on to watch the senior races. The idea being it will provide added motivation for them to be involved in the sport. And if they take a different avenue later in life, they will still have received a good grounding to live a healthy lifestyle as well as a boost to their self-esteem.
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