In October 2020, a team of George Weston employees (the “Magnificent Milers”) undertook the challenge of running a mile as a relay in under 4 minutes in 18 seconds, which was the world record for their leader’s age category. While a challenging goal for amateur runners, we were successful in running the mile in 4 minutes 15 seconds and in the process raising over $167,000 for the North York Harvest Food Bank at a time of significant food insecurity driven by COVID. Two years later, we are taking to the track again – this time with even loftier goals !

Running a Sub-4-Minute Mile for Food Insecurity

The Magnificent Milers are heading back to the track this October to again raise funds for the North York Harvest Food Bank by honouring a great sporting landmark. This year’s relay aims to be even faster than last time. We will attempt to run a sub-4-minute mile, which was first achieved in 1954 by legendary runner, Sir Roger Bannister.

Why We Run

 7 million Canadians reported experiencing food insecurity since COVID arrived in 2020. Living food insecure means being forced to make decisions between paying rent and feeding your family. That is a decision no one should ever have to make.

The North York Harvest Food Bank serves 200,000 meals per year to the most vulnerable members of society. One third of those receiving meals are children, Seniors are the fastest growing segment accessing meals, and a rapidly growing proportion of users are the working poor, who can’t make ends meet due to food inflation.

This past June, the Food Bank served the highest number of visitors in its history. “There’s not a week that goes by where we don’t have new people register.” – North York Harvest Food Bank Volunteer

“We know that the worst is still to come. 18 months after economic strains are when we see peaks in people accessing our services, and that means the next 12 months ahead of us will be critical for providing these emergency meals to our community” – Henry Chiu, Director of Development and Marketing, North York Harvest Food Bank

George Weston Limited will double the impact of your donation, by providing an equal match to every dollar.  

Every $1,000, can meet the nutritional needs of three families for an entire month. Imagine what our collective goal of raising $200,000 will do.

Together we can make a difference.

Please note: GWL will cover all costs of this event, and 100% of your donation will go towards the North York Harvest Food Bank. So, as you navigate the donation page, please select “opt out” to the section offering to increase your donation to cover the site cost.

The Run

It was once considered by many to be humanly impossible for one person to run a mile in under 4 minutes. This was until Roger Bannister, a young medical student and amateur athlete, became the 1st to do so in 1954. In the nearly 70 years since then, only 1,500 athletes have achieved this mark. Running a mile (1,609 meters) in under 4 minutes requires running at a pace of 25 KM/hour, which is just under 60 seconds for each 400 meters lap. You can get a speeding ticket for going that fast on some Toronto streets!  

Our runners will be facing this challenge as a relay, but even this will push each participant to their limit. Our team of runners are GWL employees or children/immediate family.  They have been hard at work with their training to ensure they can achieve this milestone for the North York Harvest Food Bank.

Rashid Wasti

Yonathan Zenebe

Jesse Waugh

Duncan Spizziri

Isaac Wasti

Our Story Since 2020

Race Day/What to expect

The Race will take place Sunday October 2nd, 2022, and all colleagues, supporters and their families are welcome to attend. Food and activities will be organized, and we ask all supporters to arrive by 11am to cheer on the racers. Details on location are available from Maggie Nenniger  maggie.nenniger@weston.ca and we would welcome any supporters who wish to attend.