The British Records for 10k may be under threat at the 10K Valencia Ibercaja by Kiprun on Sunday 11 January.

Valencia is synonymous with fast times in road races and this is set to continue next Sunday (11 January) with the Valencia Ibercaja 10K by Kiprun. Amongst the elite fields, published today, are eighteen British athletes who will take to the streets of the Spanish city.

The event is no stranger to impressive performances by British athletes. Last year’s edition saw Rory Leonard improve the British Record to 27:38. Leonard will not return to Spain in a fortnight, instead racing at the World Cross Country Championships one day earlier. Many, undoubtedly including Rory, will be keeping a close eye on the clock.

Cairess Returns

The British entries in the men’s field are led by Emile Cairess. The Leeds City athlete set his PB of 27:43 at this event four years ago, at the time the British Record. It will be Emile’s first race since the World Championships in Tokyo, although he did pace at last month’s Valencia Marathon.

Last year, Charles Wheeler ran a hugely impressive 27:42 to move to second on the British all-time list. Given it was four seconds behind Rory’s British Record, it went somewhat under the radar at the time. He will be hoping to emulate that performance once more. His brother George Wheeler will join him on the start line.

Scott Beattie turned down automatic selection for the World Cross Country Championships in favour of this race. He made his road 10k debut at the European Road Running Championships last April (28:31) and is coming from an impressive fourth place finish at last month’s European Cross Country Championships.

The Wheelers are not the only brothers due to compete, as Zak and Mahamed Mahamed also feature on the entry lists. Mahamed raced on New Year’s Eve at the Sylvestercross Soest in the Netherlands, finishing sixth in his first race since the London Marathon. knows the Valencia course well having competed at the last three editions.

Hugo Milner, now known as a triathlete but an excellent runner in his own right, will compete in his first road 10k since June 2022. Hugo competed at the 2022, 2023 and 2024 European Cross Country Championships and is the 2024 National XC Champion. Finally, Alfie Manthorpe and Andy Butchart will look to kick start their 2026 with strong performances. Alfie set his 28:12 PB at this event last year.

Photo: Bjorn Paree

A Valencia Debut

A maiden appearance in Valencia awaits for Eilish McColgan. It comes having returned towards her best form during 2025 after an injury-impacted couple of years. One eye may be on her own European Record of 30:19, set at the Great Manchester Run in May 2022. Her best this year is an encouraging 30:35 at the end of September, whilst she most recently ran 15:15 at the Al Sharqiyah International 5k in mid-December. That is the Scot’s fastest time over the distance in almost three and a half years.

One particularly exciting entry is Alex Bell in her first international 10k. Since retiring from the track in 2024, the former 800m specialist – Olympic finalist in Tokyo – has made excellent progress on the roads. Her PB is now 31:31, set at the Vitality London 10k last September. Most recently, she won the Mizuno FNUL New Year’s 5k in a PB of 15:24.

Photo: James Rhodes

Second in that race was Hannah Irwin who improved her PB to 15:27. She returns to Valencia in good form, having also improved her 10k PB to 31:42 in Telford last month. Sam Harrison is one of five British women to have run under 31:00 on the roads, doing so in Valencia in 2023 (30:51). She too raced in Telford and will go again here.

Post-Cross Country

Izzy Fry, captain of the Great Britain team at last month’s European Cross Country Championships, will target her 31:41 PB. Abbie Donnelly was originally due to compete in Lagoa, but is entered here in her first race since a 2:24:11 PB at the Mainova Frankfurt Marathon. She competed at both the 2024 and 2025 editions of this race.

Lizzie Welsted ran in the U20 race in Lagoa, her final competition in that age group, and Valencia will be her first race abroad that is not a European or World Championships. Impressive!

Finally, Alice Goodall and Natasha Phillips complete the British entries. Alice ran her PB of 32:04 in Valencia in 2023, the year she became European U23 Champion over 10,000m. She makes a welcome return after racing just once in 2025. Natasha returns to Valencia for the first since since her half marathon PB of 70:18, the British U20 Record, set in October 2024.

Full Fields

Full elite fields can be found at this link.