Spurs v QPR in Vitality Westminster Mile Mascot Challenge

Tottenham Hotspur’s mascot Chirpy Cockerel may be struggling to live up to his name at the moment but he hopes that will change when he bids for glory at the Vitality Westminster Mile on Sunday 29 May.

For the first time, one of the Vitality Westminster Mile waves will feature a mascot race including the chief supporters of a number of the country’s top sporting clubs.

Spurs’ mascot Chirpy was one of the first to sign up to the event and, though he’s been feeling down in the dumps since his side’s Premier League title challenge came to an end, the White Hart Lane cockerel will be hoping to be cock-a-hoop on the streets of Westminster.

Among mascots already confirmed to be lining up against the Chirpy Cockerel are Spark the bear, the mascot of Championship side Queens Park Rangers, and Pinky the Panther, the cuddly supporter of Middlesex County Cricket Club.

The first mascot to finish will win £1,000 for development activities.

Going head-to-head in another wave at this year’s Vitality Westminster Mile are more than sixty former British Olympians, including three gold medallists from past Games.

Steve Batchelor and Richard Leman were part of the famous GB hockey squad that gripped the nation in 1988 as they won gold at the Seoul Games.

The pair will join up with a third gold medal winner, Jane Holderness-Roddam, who was part of the triumphant British equestrian team from the 1968 Mexico Games.

Britain’s Ice Queen Shelley Rudman will also be taking part along with her husband Kristan Bromley. Shelley won a silver medal in the skeleton at the Turin Winter Games in 2006 while husband Kristan competed in four Winter Games in the same event.

Another famous face competing, who is no stranger to running, is Kelly Sotherton. Heptathlete Kelly won a bronze medal at the Athens Games in 2004 and so nearly replicated that four years later in Beijing when she finished fourth.

Many more British former Olympians are expected on the Start Line.

The Vitality Westminster Mile is held on the most iconic mile in the world, starting on The Mall and finishing in front of Buckingham Palace. It was launched in 2013 to build on the legacy of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Organised by London Marathon Events Limited, in partnership with Westminster City Council, there are categories for all ages and abilities, so everyone can take part.

There are races for families, adults and veterans, juniors, elite athletes and wheelchair users.