The prestigious Emsley Carr Mile and Millicent Fawcett Mile races will be part of the BMC Grand Prix at Manchester Sport City on 27th May
The iconic Emsley Carr Mile race has run annually in the UK since 1953 when it was first won by Olympic silver medallist Gordon Pirie. It was created to encourage athletes to break the four-minute mile, a feat achieved in 1954 by Sir Roger Bannister. Among the other legends of the sport to have won the race during its 69-year history are Haile Gebrselassie, Sebastian Coe, Steve Ovett, Hicham El Guerrouj and many more.
The first Millicent Fawcett Mile for women took place at the 2018 Müller Anniversary Games to commemorate 100 years since British women first secured the right to vote. The race is named after suffragist Millicent Fawcet who was
an instrumental force in securing the women’s vote, campaigning tirelessly to improve women’s opportunities in the early 20th Century.Fawcett was President of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (the NUWSS) from 1907 until her death in 1919, a year after the first British women were finally given universal suffrage.
The NUWSS was the largest organisation campaigning for female suffrage at the time, with 50,000 members, and Fawcett’s powerful and peaceful mass campaign was instrumental in securing the first voting rights for women in 1918.Fawcett’s work and her legacy has continued ever since and today, the Fawcett Society has 3,500 members who continue to fight for gender equality and women’s rights.
The British Milers Club, which is celebrating it’s 60th year in 2023 is delighted to be hosting these prestigious races as part of it’s Grand Prix series. The five meeting series is part of the World Athletics Continental Tour.
The BMC last hosted the Emsley Carr mile in 2007 at Trafford, with the race won by Jon Rankin (USA) in a BMC record of 3:54.24.
