UK Athletics 5k Road Titles on the Line as Athletes Head to Cardiff

The fifth edition of the SportsShoes Home Nations 5K, incorporating the UK Athletics 5k Road Race Championships takes place in Bute Park on the 27th September 2026.

The series continues to attract some of the UK’s top endurance talent alongside competitive club runners. With no retuning champions from 2025, the field is open for anyone to be crowned UK Athletics 5k Road Champion. National teams representing Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as a number of composite teams and individual runners will take part.

2025 British 5000m silver medallist Jack Kavanagh (Holland Sports AC) will line up as the fastest competitor with a personal best of 13:34. Kavanagh is no stranger to a SportsShoes Podium event, where he finished a hundredth of a second behind James West at Battersea Park earlier this month in a thrilling sprint finish. Finley Proffitt (Trafford Athletic Club) and Andrew Penney (Hercules Wimbledon AC) are just behind him sharing a personal best time of 13:49.

European indoor and commonwealth games medallist Melissa Courtney-Bryant (Poole AC) is one of seven females to line up who have run sub 16 minutes over the 5k distance.

The Welsh athlete will be lining up on home soil in Coopers Field, she set her 5k road personal best of 15:27 at a SportsShoes Podium event back in 2024.

She will be joined by European marathon team sliver medallist Clara Evans-Graham (Pontypridd Roadents). Who is stepping down to a shorter distance and looking to use her international experience to cross the line first, her 5k road personal best of 15:34. The fastest athlete in the field is Emily Haggard Kearney (North Belfast) with a time of 15:13.

Sunday’s action gets underway at 3pm with the first of two seeded races. The women’s Home Nations race starts at 4pm with the men’s race setting off at 4.30pm.

Further event details, start lists and race schedules can be found here.

Watch live: https://youtube.com/live/5Ik4w5pIAXU