TWO ROAD 5K RECORDS BROKEN AT SPORTSSHOES.COM PODIUM FESTIVAL II IN LEICESTER

SportsShoes.com Podium Festival II saw a second year of record runs as both the Welsh and British U20s road 5k records were broken at the event held on March 15 at New College, Leicester.

Endurance athlete Osian Perrin broke the Welsh 5k record, which had been unbroken for 40 years, clocking a time of 13:34. The British U20s record, which had stood for 38 years, was broken by Alex Riley who recorded a time of 13:40.

Amongst the runners who finished, 35 runners from the male category achieved sub-14 minute 5k race times, more than double the number recorded in 2024.

32 per cent of the entrants in this year’s event were female runners with 15 recording sub-16 minute 5k race times.

The event’s success follows the inaugural SportsShoes.com Podium Festival held last March, where Ethiopian long-distance runner Hagos Gebrhiwet recorded the fastest road 5k ran in Britain with a time of 13:19.

SportsShoes.com’s managing director, Brett Bannister, commented: “SportsShoes.com Podium Festival is an event which sets out to generate new levels of excitement and innovation in community racing to become the home of 5k running. 

“It’s great to see we’ve achieved this for the second year running, with more records broken, one of the biggest prize pots in domestic racing and support from the top brands.

“Congratulations to both Osain and Alex, to all runners who took part and those behind the scenes who are passionate about making SportsShoes.com Podium Festival the fastest road 5k in the country and to keep going from there.”

More than six hours of racing ranging in format and distance took place and entrants shared a total prize fund of up to and over £20,000 which is amongst the biggest seen in domestic racing.

The event also hosted product activations, which housed ten of SportsShoes.com’s brand partners including New Balance, Nike, On Running, Adidas, Mizuno, Asics, Hoka and Garmin alongside Grenade and Red Bull.

Dan Cartner, head of marketing at SportShoes.com added: “At SportsShoes.com, we are always looking at innovative ways we can excite the running and athlete community through multi-brand events.

“Building on last years’ success, SportsShoes.com Podium Festival II not only reflects how we can bring together the fastest runners, but also the best brands who have an opportunity to showcase their latest products.

“It’s our mission to be unrivalled in running across products, retail experiences and events, and SportsShoes.com Podium Festival II is strong proof of this in action.”

Established in 1982, Bradford-based SportsShoes.com, which has a turnover of £90m, offers customers more than 17,000 products from 150 global running and outdoor brands.

From a running perspective these include Asics, Nike, Adidas, Hoka, New Balance and Brooks whilst in terms of outdoor they include Salomon, Montane, Rab and Patagonia.

For more information on the company visit www.sportsshoes.com

Check out the SportsShoes.com RIA Foundation Member profile here  .