The event was successfully completed on October 14th as the team successfully ran a mile in 3 minutes, 43.16 seconds in front of a loud group of colleagues, friends and family in support !
The amount raised is shown above, including the 100% match by George Weston Limited. We will close the fundraising on October 31, and deliver the cheque to the North York Harvest Food Bank shortly thereafter !
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 18 seconds, which was the world record for their leader’s age category.
In October 2022 we upped our game, and ran a mile in only 3 minutes and 58 seconds (a speed of 25km/h), thereby honouring one of the great sporting landmarks in history i.e. the first ever sub-4 minute mile by Roger Bannister in 1954, a feat considered not humanly possible until it was accomplished by him.
In almost 70 years since that day, only 1,500 athletes have ever run a mile under 4 minutes and the world record for a mile has inched down to 3 minutes and 43 seconds, set 24 years ago in 1999. So, the Magnificent Milers are returning in 2023 for one final event – “Magnificent Milers – The Fastest Mile” and on October 14, we will attempt to run a mile in a world record time of 3:43.
This is an incredibly challenging goal for amateur runners, even as a relay, needing to run 4 laps of a 400M track at 56 seconds per lap. We invite all donors to come and watch us if possible – covering the distance of a mile at that speed is breathtaking to watch, and even more remarkable would be to then imagine a single person doing so rather than us in a relay!
Running a World Record Mile for Food Insecurity
The Magnificent Milers are heading back to the track this October to raise funds for the North York Harvest Food Bank. This year’s relay aims to be even faster than last time at 3:43, which is the current world record for a mile, set by Hicham El Guerrouj in 1999.
After raising over $300,000 for the North York Harvest Food Bank through our last two endeavours, our hope is to raise a similar amount through a single event this time. The need and importance of the work being done by food banks across the country has never been higher.
Approximately 1 in 5 Canadians face some level of food insecurity, many of them are our neighbours, colleagues, friends and family members. With the rising cost of living, families often have to make the difficult decision choosing between putting nutritious food on their table and paying rent.
North York Harvest is seeing a record number of Torontonians coming to its network for emergency food. In fact, the network is currently serving 25,000 community members each month . Among them, 30% are children and 12% are seniors. Nearly half the adults coming to food banks are currently employed, yet not able to make ends met given food inflation.
“In the first six months of this year, the demand has risen by one-third compared to the same period last year and 2022 was a record year. It would be an understatement to say that we’re in a crisis.” Henry Chiu, Director of Development & Marketing, North York Harvest Food Bank.
George Weston Limited will double the impact of your donation, by providing an equal match to every dollar.
North York Harvest distributed $7.2 Million worth of food all of last year. They will surpass that shortly after Thanksgiving. Imagine what our collective goal of raising $300,000 can 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 Runners
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 under the supervision of our world class coaches to ensure they can achieve this milestone for the North York Harvest Food Bank.
| Rashid Wasti | Axel Stueckmann | Udai Bains | Bridget Hughes | Daniel Stueckmann | Isaac Wasti |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Our story since 2020 …… in 4 minutes (of course!). Please enjoy.
The Run/What to expect
The run will take place Saturday, October 14th, 2023, 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 no later than 3pm to cheer on the runners. The race will take place sometime before 4:30pm at Esther Shiner Stadium (5720 Bathurst St, North York, ON M2R 3W2).
Please reach out to Eva Cvetanovska (eva.cvetanovska@weston.ca) if you have any inquiries regarding the run.
