Online running shoes, running clothing and outdoor gear retailer SportsShoes.com and New Balance will stage the 2026 UK Athletics 5K Road Race Championships in Cardiff on Sunday, 27 September.
Taking place at Coopers Field in Bute Park, the event will carry UK Athletics 5K Road Race Championship status.
It marks the fifth edition of SportsShoes Podium Home Nations and will bring together teams from England, Ireland and Wales.
A SportsShoes x New Balance team will also take part and runners who are not already part of a national team can form their own composite teams to compete for prize money by contacting [email protected].
Athletes will be seeded based on their qualifying time when entries close.
SportsShoes Podium has been hosting record-breaking 5K events across the UK since the retailer acquired the race series in 2023, attracting thousands of UK and international athletes during that time.
These have included Olympians Emile Cairess, Beth Potter, Alex Yee and Narve Nordas, in addition to competitive runners from across the UK and overseas.
Jack Rowe and Alexandra Bell won the 2025 races in Cardiff, with Rowe’s winning time of 13:32 standing as the men’s course record, and Calli Thackery’s 15:29 from 2023 setting the women’s mark.
Among the top elite entries for Home Nations 2026 is last year’s English 5,000 metres champion, Jack Kavanagh. He ran a personal best of 13:34 for 5K at the Podium Festival in Leicester in March 2025.
SportsShoes Podium race coordinator, Mia France, said: “Bute Park has become one of our favourite venues and bringing the UK Athletics 5K Road Race Championships to Coopers Field gives the day real weight.
“The Home Nations races put national teams directly against each other over 5K, so anyone chasing a national title has to earn it in the middle of a team battle.
“Working together with New Balance, British Athletics and Welsh Athletics, we will give runners in Cardiff and across Wales the opportunity to show up, race hard and chase quick times.”
SportsShoes Podium forms part of the company’s longstanding commitment to being the most physically present retailer in its space through events and activations.
Over the past 18 months alone, SportsShoes.com has been involved in the delivery of more than 100 activation events both in the UK and internationally. This includes at Parkrun and RunThrough UK events, as well as Kendal Mountain Festival.
Activations have also taken place at nine marathons, including London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Boston, New York and Osaka. SportsShoes says this enabled seven million consumers to be reached physically in the last year.
Established in 1982, Bradford-based SportsShoes.com offers customers in the UK, Europe and Scandinavia more than 15,000 products from 150 global running and outdoor brands.
Entries for the Home Nations event close at midnight on Sunday 20 September. To sign up or for more information on the race series, visit www.sportsshoes.com/store/
