Jack Kavanagh continues stellar season with win in Battersea

The Brit equalled his 5km personal best at at the FNUL x Adidas x SportsShoes 5km, while Charlotte Dannatt also ran her fastest ever time over the distance in London

Jack Kavanagh continued his fine form this season with an impressive display to win the elite men’s race at the FNUL x Adidas x SportsShoes 5km (November 28).

The Surrey-based athlete, who clocked 13:44 at the Podium Festival back in March, equalled that mark in his four-second victory over Joe Wigfield in Battersea.

Not only did Kavanagh beat Jack Rowe’s long-standing course record of 13:36 from 2021 but only Sam Atkin and Will Barnicoat have gone quicker than him over 5km this season.

It’s been quite the year for Kavanagh, who has represented England and also placed second behind Josh Kerr over 5000m at the UK Athletics Championships this past summer.

Earlier this season Kavanagh left his teaching job in Oxted to pursue a full-time career in running, a decision that he believes has been vindicated.

“I’ve got immense pride as Liverpool Cross Challenge didn’t go to plan [Kavanagh DNF’d],” he told AW. “I didn’t really put a place or a time on this race and the result came with that I think.

“I started running in lockdown as a hobby and soon got addicted to it. I went down to my local track where I met my coach Neil Danby, who is a former Olympian. I trusted everything he said and it went from there.

“It wasn’t easy as a teacher as my mind was always ‘go, go, go’ so I’ve had to learn that rest is important in the day. I’ve also found it important to have hobbies. I want to now do my first few indoor races and continue to be curious during training.”

In the elite women’s race, Charlotte Dannatt took apart her 5km personal best of 16:01 with an authoritative win at the FNUL x Adidas x SportsShoes 5km.

The Brit clocked 15:37 and beat American Taryn Rawlings by four seconds, while she also bettered India Weir’s course record of 15:44 from earlier this season.

Dannatt has had a busy few weeks and went into Battersea off the back of a 15th placed finish at the Liverpool Cross Challenge.

Over 5km, she is now the eighth quickest Brit in the distance this season.

“I wasn’t really that focused on the time and the focus was more on the racing,” she told AW. “The plan was to stick in as long as I could as I knew what these girls could do over 1500m. I thought they were going to come past me at the end.

“I think I’d get bored if I did just one of track, road or cross-country. With my stature, as I’m quite tall, I’m probably more suited to both the track and the roads.

“I had a few years where I was racing without confidence, so this is the first season where I kind of believed I could do it again.”

SportsShoes.Com awarded both Kavanagh and Dannatt £2000 for the course records.