The Daily Mile

The Daily Mile is a free initiative for primary schools, whereby all children participate in 15 minutes of daily physical activity during classroom time, to improve their health and wellbeing. It is a simple social activity, with children running or jogging at their own pace in the fresh air with friends, but its benefits are profound. 

We believe that The Daily Mile is an incredibly effective keystone habit for all young children. Children in the modern world are more sedentary than ever, while consuming more calories than at any time in the past. At primary school age, between 5-11, children are at their most impressionable, with minds like sponges and bodies in a highly responsive state of development. It is the ideal time to ingrain positive habits, and make them aware of the myriad of positive benefits of exercising. 

We believe that all children, no matter their background or circumstance, should have the right to do The Daily Mile as part of their early years education, and we fervently hope that they will take the exercise habit on through life.  

In 2015, after hearing about the initiative from colleagues at our Grangemouth site, situated just a few miles from Stirling, INEOS offered to help Elaine scale up her vision. In 2016 The Daily Mile Foundation was established. 

Today, we know that over 3 million children in 79 countries are regularly running The Daily Mile, and the numbers continue to grow.

With INEOS’ support, the Foundation has established several international partnerships to assist with the roll-out and sustainability of The Daily Mile. These include relationships in England (London Marathon Events, Sport England and Place2Be), Scotland (the Scottish Government is committed to become the first “Daily Mile Nation” with the support of Active Scotland), Wales (Welsh Government), the USA (The Sports Institute, University of Washington), Austria (Vienna City Marathon), Belgium, France, Germany and Spain (Golazo), Ireland (Athletics Ireland), Portugal (Portuguese Athletics Federation Spain) and the UAE (interact events). 

Since February 2018, the Daily Mile Foundation has been supported in the UK by media partner ITV, and has been promoted in cinema marketing campaigns for the 20th Century Fox film “The Kid Who Would Be King”. 

The Daily Mile has an impressive cadre of public ambassadors, including sub-2h marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge, Sir Andy Murray, Sir Mo Farah, Lady Tanni Grey-Thompson and Paula Radcliffe MBE. 

In March 2019, Elaine received an MBE for ‘services to the fitness of children’ from HRH Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, in a service at Buckingham Palace, to add to her 2015 Pride of Britain Teacher of the Year award. 

Alongside supporting the growth of The Daily Mile, INEOS has also supported Imperial College London to begin a 3 year extensive research project exploring the impact and efficacy of The Daily Mile. To date, several academic papers have been published to back up the benefits of The Daily Mile including:

• University of Birmingham: concluded The Daily Mile could help address obesity; has an impact on BMI; and is a cost-effective solution (particularly for girls). 
• Universities of Stirling, Edinburgh and Highlands & Islands: concluded The Daily Mile is beneficial for pupils’ cognition and wellbeing – reporting a 7% improvement in alertness, mood and verbal memory.
• Swansea University: concluded The Daily Mile can increase children's fitness (9%); has a positive impact on attitudes towards physical activity; and benefits children from both deprived and non-deprived backgrounds equally.

The Daily Mile Foundation, with the support of INEOS, continues to strive towards integrating the initiative in all primary schools globally. In the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic, the Foundation teamed up with public health experts to promote “The Daily Mile at Home” campaign, encouraging parents to take their children outside to run for 15 minutes each day until schools fully reopened.