🏅 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.
🎟️ Spectating is free!
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 9pm. The Dream Mile races will headline the show.
A series of invitational junior events will start proceedings from 6pm. There will also be 6-8 BMC Races over 800m. The elite action is expected from around *7pm 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 (around *8.15pm) and men’s elite mile race (around *8.20pm) which are followed by the podium mile presentations. Cash prizes are up for grabs for the top 3 finishers in each of the A Races.
*See below for the full timetable which is due to be confirmed closer to the event.
Race start lists and results can be viewed 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 ELITE MILE @ 8.15pm Tbc.
Oliver Forrest is set to return finishing second in 2024 in a time of 4:46.55. Sonny Allen is also looking to improve after her fourth-placed finish last year. U15 athletes Maise Mullett and Isabelle Buchanan are expected to renew their rivalry from 2025 when Mullett broke the U13 British record. Multiple world age-group record holder Claire Elms heads a strong masters line-up including Laura Haggerty and Zoe Doyle.
MEN’S ELITE MILE @ 8.20pm Tbc.
The Higgins twins – Ted and Jack – are back on 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. Jack has already run under 4 mins for the mile and is set to be the fastest athlete on paper. The men’s field will also include Andrew Ridley who broke the M60 mile world record in this race in 2025. Shaftesbury Barnet’s Kojo Kyereme – the M50 indoor 800m world record holder – is also entered.
TICKETS, TIMINGS & TRAVEL
🎟️ Spectating: Free entry on the door.
🕒 Timetable of races:
See below for the 2025 timetable as a guide. The 2026 timetable will appear here as soon as confirmed.
🚊🚗 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.
👀 LOVE LIVE SPORT? Visit our ‘What’s On’ page here for the No. 1 guide to spectator experiences coming up in LONDON. And to ensure you don’t miss a moment of the action subscribe here to our newsletter.