The popular and much beloved athletics event will make a return to Highgate in 2026

The Night of the 10,000m PBs, one of the most anticipated meets on the domestic athletics calendar, will take a fallow year in 2025.

The volunteer-driven and spectator-friendly meeting, established by Ben Pochee in 2013 to improve British racing standards, returns in two years and it’s expected to be bigger and better.

From its humble beginnings over a decade ago, the Night of the 10,000m PBs – courtesy of the hard work from Pochee and Highgate Harriers – has evolved into a well-known meet on a global level.

The event has staged the British trials for the Olympics and world championships, with the last couple of editions part of the On Running Track Night series.

Night of the 10,000m PBs (Mark Shearman)

Even with the year-on-year changes, the Night of the 10,000m PBs has never lost its ethos and is famous for its “lane three beer and cheer zone”, its “lactic tunnels of love” and the circus-style entertainment and back straight DJ.

This year’s edition was perhaps the largest yet, with the in-field particularly packed with people, trade stands and plenty of things to keep young fans entertained, such as a climbing wall.

In recent years, athletes from all over the world have travelled to London to compete, flying in from the likes of Chile and Burundi to Ethiopia and the United States.

Megan Keith and Fiona O’Keeffe (David Hicks)

This year’s edition saw an incredible battle between Britain’s Megan Keith and the USA’s Fiona O’Keeffe, with the former claiming victory in 31:03.02.

In the men’s event, Mohamed Ismael of Djibouti clocked 27:22.38 to out-sprint Patrick Dever.

Young athletes have also been given the opportunity to race in front of thousands of people and the last few editions have incorporated junior 800m races.

Mohamed Ismael wins (David Hicks)

“We’ve flatteringly been called the Glastonbury of athletics, and the similarities will now extend beyond our annual #Lane3BeerNCheer party night,” said Pochee and Highgate Harriers.

“In a similar vein to the festival we’ve decided to take a ‘fallow year’, instead of the Worthy Farm land, it will be our volunteers who’ll be receiving a well-earned rest and therefore we will not be hosting Night of the 10,000m PB’s in 2025.

“We hope to welcome you back in 2026 and would like to thank our Highgate Harriers crew, partners, volunteers and supporters who come together each year to build the event as a celebration of our grassroots community. Happy running one and all.”

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