Jack Kavanagh is back in Cardiff this weekend for the SportsShoes Podium Home Nations 5km, returning to a course where he has enjoyed success before.

The race has been a significant part of the 26-year-old’s rise over the past few years. His first appearance produced a 14:21 clocking and, although he was not expecting such a performance, the experience left him wanting more. A year later, he returned and ran 13:48 while representing England – his first sub-14-minute performance.

This time, however, Kavanagh arrives as the fastest man on the entry list with a current personal best of 13:34, a position that brings a different kind of expectation.

It is a challenge he is relishing. Having initially taken up running during the Covid-19 pandemic simply because he enjoyed being outside, Kavanagh has since turned a passion that began without even owning a watch into an increasingly serious athletics career.

His decision to leave teaching and pursue running full-time was initially driven by the ambition of representing England. That goal was achieved, but his ambitions have continued to grow, with Kavanagh winning silver behind Josh Kerr at the 2025 UK Championships over 5000m and lowering his personal best to 13:36.39 in 2026.

The foundations for that progression have been deliberately built over time with coach Neil Danby, a former Winter Olympian, and a support team that Kavanagh has assembled around himself.

Now, Kavanagh is ready to find out what that preparation can produce when the pressure is on.

What experience do you have at the Home Nations event?

I’ve done it the last couple of years, and I think this will be the fourth time I’ve done the race.

The first time, I ran 14:21 and I was absolutely buzzing. I wasn’t expecting that on the day. I remember on the way home we saw the England team coming out of the hotel in their tracksuits, and I thought, “This time next year, I want that so badly.”

The following year was the first time I represented England, and that was also the first time I ran sub-14. I ran 13:48 in 2024, which was a great race and one of my favourites.

The following year I represented England again, although sadly I didn’t finish. I got cramp within 200 metres and then again shortly afterwards. Something just wasn’t right, so I stepped off.

It’s got good and bad memories, but I love the course. It’s very, very flat, so it’s definitely a good one.

You’ve done lots of Podium events. What do you like so much about them?

I do love them. They’re really well-organised events. Even little things like being able to go back and look at the footage after the race because it’s been filmed.

They’re usually really accessible to get to, there’s always a good atmosphere, and they’re in good locations with fast courses. There’s always going to be a good pack and a good group.

Battery Park, Dulwich and Battersea - whatever ones I’ve done, I love Podium. I’ve done Leicester a couple of times as well.

They’ve helped me break through to be able to represent England and Great Britain. I think they used the times I got in Podium races, so I’m grateful to the organisation for putting on the events.

You’re down as the fastest man on the entry list this weekend. How do you deal with going into a race with that expectation?

For ages I was always the underdog. I didn’t really have my name out there to begin with, but then I gave up teaching for moments like this - going into races where there is a little bit more pressure.

I love it because not everyone responds to pressure in the right way, but I love that added test. I’m excited. I’m ready to push myself and test myself, but I can’t be thinking about the end result too much. That will just come.

I’ve got to be present with what I’ve got to do, thinking about what’s directly in front of me rather than thinking too far ahead. The opportunity of a British title is really exciting, but I can’t be thinking about that too much. It’s got to be one step at a time.

Ultimately, I’m looking to test myself and see what’s possible. I’ll never find out who I am in the comfortable moments. It’s when the pressure is on and when you’re tested that you really find out who you are. I think Sunday is a great opportunity to do that.

Going back to the beginning, why did you start running?

I started running not to chase or go after GB or England vests. I just loved being outside. It gave me something to do during COVID. My sisters were always runners, so I thought, “Okay, I’ll try that.”

At the time, I was more into football, but after a few runs I just got really addicted to running. Every day I was out there. I didn’t have a watch; I was just running off feel and enjoying it, and enjoying pushing myself. I’d randomly do crazy amounts of hill reps up this hill just because it felt good and gave me a good feeling. I was running because I loved it, and I still have that now.

Not long after I started, I went down to my local track and that’s where I met my coach, Neil, who was a former Winter Olympian. He’s been brilliant. He’s been awesome.

He’s so enthusiastic about running, and he’s taken a very patient approach with doing a lot of base training. It’s only now that we’ve started layering in the hard 400m sessions because we didn’t want to break down. We wanted to build up the chassis first, as he likes to say.

It’s all there now, but he didn’t have to do that. He could have rushed things. I’m very grateful for his support.

What made you decide to leave teaching and pursue athletics full-time?

At the time, I wanted to represent England. That was the thought, and we didn’t really think much beyond that. I just had the thought of representing England and thought to myself, “Whatever it takes.”

I took a bit of a gamble. Not everyone agreed with me at the time, but I’m hoping the recent results, including the UK silver medal last year, back my plan. It shows that it is paying off.

You’ve got to take a risk every now and then. I always have a really good instinct about things, and I just got a good feeling that it was the right time to move on from teaching.

I still go back and do some volunteer reading because I love teaching. It wasn’t that I didn’t like teaching or that I wanted to stop - it was just that I had this dream in my head and I had to go for it.

You’ve built a team around yourself. Why was that important?

I wasn’t willing to accept that other people around me were able to get faster times because of the support they had. So I made the support. I built a team around me.

I went and got a physio and a sports mindset coach - everything that the elites had, I just built around me before I was probably an elite.

I started thinking that way and then it all kind of comes together. But it’s important to remember the curious mindset I had when I first started running: to enjoy it, embrace it and keep the fun in it as well. I think that’s important.

You and Neil have been together since you first started. What works so well between you?

It’s an interesting dynamic. We’re both very different characters, but it just seems to work.

Our communication is really good. He’s there at every session that I do, every gym session. He’s not just a coach; he’s a friend when I’m not in the best moods, he’s a nutritionist when I haven’t quite got my fuelling right, and he’s very knowledgeable.

He’s one of the best coaches around. A few people are now seeing our success and reaching out for his training as well, which is really nice to hear.

He’s hoping to build something soon as well, hopefully forming an elite team. He’s brilliant. He’s so enthusiastic about the sport and very passionate, and you can sense that even from having one conversation with him.

Do you look back on your achievements, particularly your British Championships silver medal last year?

Going off the training times building into that race, we knew we were onto something special. Something was in good form. We did go into it thinking, “Let’s go after a medal.” So it being a silver behind Josh Kerr was good. We could sense something was brewing, hitting the times in training, and it all came together on that day.

I don’t think I was expected to be up there, but it was a magical race.

I was at the England Championships the week before, and that was purposely put there for me in terms of my race schedule so I could go through everything. It was the same call room, and I think even the start time was pretty similar. I was able to visualise the following race within another race the week before.

That’s the way we like to do things, very methodical, just thinking one step ahead. We were ready for that day and it was just great when it all came together.

Do you have a preference between track and road running?

My foot plant and technique seem to suit the road really well. I get a snappy feeling and it’s very rhythmical.

But the big competitions I want to get to are on the track, so I need to master that craft as well. It's a very different type of running, with different tactical elements to it. I don’t really have a preference. I want to be good at both.

The SportsShoes Podium Home Nations event starts at 2pm on September 27. Watch the live stream here.