Jump Trading win Bloomberg Square Mile Relay London

Jump Trading were crowned the “fastest firm in the City” following their first-place finish in the 13^th running of the Bloomberg Square Mile Relay London, as 120 teams across 85 businesses took to the streets of the capital’s financial district to battle it out for top spot in the hugely popular annual event.

Each team consisted of 10 members who were each tasked with running the one-mile course in the fastest possible time before passing on the baton to the next colleague. The team to complete its 10 cumulative one-mile laps in the fastest time was Jump Trading, with the firm crossing the line in 51 minutes and two seconds, beating the previous track record achieved by Barclays last year. In second place were J.P. Morgan, with Barclays finishing third.

It was the first time Jump Trading have won the Bloomberg Square Mile Relay London.

Mark Bruce, winning team captain, said: “It’s a great feeling to come here and win after finishing second last year, and it’s an extra bonus to set a course record too. It’s a tough course with all the stairs, twists and turns. We’ve been coming here for a few years but each year we take it more seriously, and this time people put that little bit more training in before and we all reaped the rewards.

“We’re a small office here in London, we trained together when we could which has kept us all motivated, so now we’re going to enjoy a few drinks and celebrate the win!”

The race takes place annually in 12 cities worldwide, and this year’s London edition saw 1,200 professionals put to the test. Starting in Guildhall Yard, runners negotiated a one-mile course that included staircases, alleyways and bridges that are synonymous with the race before finishing where they left off in London’s Square Mile.

Andrea Mosconi, Regional Head of EMEA Sales, Bloomberg, said: “Congratulations to Jump Trading for winning the 13th annual Bloomberg Square Mile Relay in London, which celebrates the value of speed, teamwork and giving back to the communities in which we work. It is great to see so many of our clients and partners participating for such a worthwhile cause.”

A new award category for the 2019 series was the Fastest All-Female Team – introduced to continue the Bloomberg Square Mile Relay’s commitment to increasing female participation across the series – which was won by Bloomberg.

The fastest runner on the day was Alexander Lepretre, from Stephenson Harwood, who ran his one-mile lap in a time of four minutes and 36 seconds, and the Fastest Mixed Team award was won by Bank of America Merrill Lynch in a time of one hour three minutes and four seconds.

120 teams took part in the Bloomberg Square Mile Relay London 2019.

Through the Bloomberg Square Mile Relay’s ‘The Extra Mile’ initiative, the series aims to address unique social challenges in each city where the relay race takes place, with projects delivering lasting positive social impact long after the teams cross the finish line. Ahead of participating, all 1,200 London runners were asked to select one of three causes to run for, put forward by The Extra Mile partner Greenhouse Sports, with each respective lap time counting towards their chosen cause. The cause with the quickest average time was Education, receiving 25% of each team’s race entry fee, amounting to £27,258. Greenhouse Sports will now use this donation to deliver a year-long programme to address the winning cause.

Headline sponsor Bloomberg were returning for their 13^th year of global sponsorship and were joined by CASS Business School as education partner, On Running as running shoe partner, CanO Water as water supplier, Legendre Group as race supporter and Sporting Wine Club as wine supplier.

James Hassett, Managing Director of race organiser Square Mile Sport, said: “Thank you to all our sponsors and partners for helping make the London race such a success. The Bloomberg Square Mile Relay is an unparalleled sporting event that offers the city’s leading institutions an opportunity to come together for a night of camaraderie, competition, teamwork, celebration and networking, in support of a special cause. It was exciting to welcome Beijing and Mumbai to the global series of races this year, but London’s business community always displays a level of enthusiasm, competitive spirit and teamwork unlike any other city and we always look forward to returning to the Square Mile every year.”