The first fixture of the 2025/26 UK Athletics Cross Challenge series – a World Athletics Cross Country Tour Gold level meeting – got underway at Llandaff Fields in Cardiff on Saturday 8 November.

The Cross Challenge series features four fixtures throughout the winter, with Liverpool, London, and Nottingham hosting the remaining events, the latter staging the series final next March.

For the first time, Cardiff hosted the Cross Country Short Course 1-mile race, where the winners, Holly Dixon and Jack Higgins, booked their spot on the Novuna GB & NI mixed relay team for the European Cross Country Championships next month.

Holly Dixon (Cambridge Harriers) ran confidently around the iconic Cardiff course to take the women’s short course title in a time of 5:02.

In the home straight, Ava Lloyd (Wigan & District AC) and Lucy Jones (Herne Hill Harriers) pressed hard to close the gap, but Dixon held firm to take a deserved win, with Lloyd finishing second and Jones third.

“I am really happy. I just went from the start, it was going to be tough to outkick those really fast 800m and 1500m girls, so I went hard from the start and took it out hard and hung on!

“I am proud of myself, for the last year that I deserved a spot on the team, so I just went for it today and gave it my all. I am really happy. I have worked really hard.”

In the men’s short course race, a trial race for a spot in the European Cross Country Championships mixed relay team, Jack Higgins (Tonbridge AC) claimed victory in a thrilling sprint finish ahead of Callum Elson (Cambridge & Coleridge AC), Will Barnicoat (AFD), and Cameron Boyek (Morpeth Harriers AC).

The Higgins brothers and Boyek pushed the pace early on, with Boyek leading much of the race. As the field rounded the final bend, Elson and Barnicoat came into contention, setting up a four-way charge to the line. Higgins showed the best finishing speed, taking the win by the narrowest of margins.

“That was unexpected. I knew I could go up amongst it, but to take the win, I am over the moon with that. I knew the same as Liverpool last year, it is quite a long home straight, so not to go too soon and cover and save a bit for that last 50 and in the end it worked in my favour as at the end to close that last few metres.

“Really good event, I really enjoyed the course. It wasn’t as muddy as normal cross-country conditions, but I think that suited me, to be honest and allowed me to kick on at the end.”

In the senior women’s 6km race, part of the World Athletics Cross Country Tour, 17-year-old Synthia Chepkirui (KEN) claimed victory in 20:11, leading home compatriot Sheila Jebet (KEN) in second place.

Megan Keith (Inverness Harriers), the 2023 Cardiff winner, was the first Brit home in fourth, with Poppy Tank (City of Plymouth) just ten seconds behind in fifth.

Keith took the race out strongly, leading early and stringing out the field alongside Chepkirui, Jebet, and steeplechaser Ceili McCabe (CAN). However, an untimely stop to remove debris from her spike cost her crucial seconds, allowing the Kenyan duo to surge clear.

The Paris Olympian, Keith said: “It was good, I am happy to be back in Cardiff as it is my favourite cross country race and there was such a good feel to it. It was where I wanted to come and open my cross-country season. I was happy to be back. Unfortunately, I had a rough second lap where I got a bit of tree stuck on my spike, so unfortunately I had to stop and pull it out. Then girls had gone, so I tried to keep fighting in the second half of lap but sad I couldn’t compete better for the podium today. It is what it is.”

The men’s senior race saw a strong international field tackle the multi-lap course, each circuit measuring two miles.

A leading pack formed early, featuring Kenyans Mathew Kipsang, Stephen Kimutai, and Victor Kimosop, alongside British athletes Dafydd Jones (Swansea Harriers) and Zak Mahamed (Southampton AC). The pace intensified mid-race, whittling the group down to six, including Jacob Cann (Western Tempo) and Richard Slade (Chiltern Harrier) whilst Jones dropped back.

With one lap to go, the Kenyan trio pushed clear. Kipsang and Kimosop accelerated over the final 800 metres to duel for the title, with Kipsang taking the win ahead of Kimosop. Mahamed battled home strongly as the first Brit in fourth, followed by Cann in fifth.

Mahamed, who ran the Valencia half-marathon just a few weeks ago, said;

“It felt good, great race, so happy with it. I know I was in good shape coming into it, but I feel like my legs are still a little heavy from Valencia. I just tried to hang on to the leaders of the pack.”

Innes FitzGerald (Exeter Harriers) underlined her world-class credentials in the combined U17/U20 women’s race, storming to victory in commanding fashion as she looks ahead to defending her U20 European Cross Country title in Portugal next month.

Behind her, Beth Lewis (City of York) produced a gutsy run to take the U17 title, fending off Lizzie Holt (Blackburn Harriers) in a dramatic sprint finish after a brief directional slip on the final turn.

In the men’s U17/U20 race, Will Rabjohns (Poole AC) delivered a strong performance to take the U20 win, breaking clear on the second lap to win comfortably ahead of Quinn Miell-Ingham (Radley AC), finishing in second. The U17 honours went to Roel Damman (HC Oostende), who was fifth over the line.

Full results from the day can be found here.

The 2025/26 UKA Cross Challenge series continues later this month in Liverpool on 22 November, where the country’s best cross-country athletes will battle for selection ahead of the European Cross Country Championships.