SSAFA Cardiff 5K Road Race Series Info

SSAFA South East Wales' long running summer running race series.

The SSAFA Cardiff 5K Road Race Series is entering its 27th year!

Registrations
Race Information
Help out on the day
Our Supporters
Photo Galleries
Previous Results

Welcome to the SSAFA Cardiff 5K Road Race Series.  This is a three-race event held every year in Cardiff, raising funds for SSAFA South East Wales.  As well as being a fundraising event, the Series is a competitive event, held under UK & Welsh Athletics rules and features on the CAAC Calendar.

The series was founded in 1998 by respected Race Director Graham Finlayson BEM after he retired as Colour Sergeant from 2nd (V) Battalion the Royal Regiment of Wales after twenty eight years service.

It is open to all runners, young and old, new and experienced, club members or individual runners.

The three races are held in consecutive months - May, June and July, every summer - you can register for each race using the buttons below.

This is a highly competitive event, and the current course records are 16:20 (Ladies) and 14.29 (Men).  You can see all of the results from previous years in this downloadable PDF.

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Registrations

Cardiff 5K Road Race Series 2025

The three race dates for 2025 are:

  • Wednesday 21 May
  • Wednesday 25 June
  • Wednesday 23 July

Each race will begin at 19.30.

Registration Fees:

Club Members: £10

Individual Runners: £12

Please choose a date and register using the buttons below.  Please note to register online you will need a Fullonsport account, but this is free and takes only a moment to create.

You can also register on the night, preferably with a pre-completed entry form you can download here.

 

Race Information

The race has been using the current course since 2019, originally designed (and measured) by our race director, with the Start/Finish line located south of the Ambulance Station.

Access to the Start/Finish line will be signposted from the Blackweir Tavern which will continue to serve as the Race HQ.

Race Bib Numbers – Medical information

Note that the reverse of every race bib number has a form for medical information. When you receive your bib number, please insert the necessary information for use in emergencies.

First responders like St John’s Ambulance will refer to this if a runner is unable to communicate and, in more serious cases, it might be all that accident and emergency workers have to go on. Knowing you’re allergic to penicillin or diabetic could make everybody’s job a lot easier.


Travel and parking

The race is easy to reach either by car or train.  

The race HQ is at Blackweir Taven, on Cardiff's North Road.  You can see this on google maps here.

The nearest train station is Cathays, which is a very short walk to Blackweir Taven.

If travelling by car, then there is only limited parking available at the Blackweir Tavern, so it is advisable to use the nearby pay and display facilities. These are situated further along North Road (A470) heading towards the city centre and in this direction, the car park will be on your right.

However, given the traffic conditions at this time of the day, the car park is best accessed travelling in the opposite direction, i.e. away from the city centre. You will then be able to turn left off the road into the car park.

If you arrive on North Road heading towards the city centre therefore, pass the car park on your right, turn left into Corbett Road, first right into King Edward VII Avenue and turn around. Turn right at Corbett Road traffic lights to put you on the left side of the road for the car park.


Course Map and Elevation Profile

You can view and download a map of the course and elevation profile here:


Personal Data

Your support is very important to us and we’d like to continue to keep you informed about the vital work we do. We’ll never sell or share your details. Your personal information is protected and processed in accordance with current data protection legislation, including GDPR.

When you tick the box on the Race Entry Form to consent to data retention, you agree to us holding on to that information for the purposes of promoting and managing the Series.

In order to promote the Series from time to time, we may email you with reminders and news; from the point of view of managing the Series, we obviously need to retain the data required to publish the results of each race and the overall Series’ winners.

The only information we make publicly available therefore are your name, surname, club affiliation (if any), your category, your vest number and your finishing time(s).

We will not supply any information we hold to a third-party.

You can tell us to remove your data from our records and even to remove your entry from the published results if you wish by emailing gdpr@omcassociates.com.  You don’t have to give any reason.

Help out on the day

Are you able to help SSAFA organise these 5K runs?  We are really grateful for any assistance that can be provided, and just a few extra hands can make the event so much better for everyone involved.

If you have a spare evening (and don't want to run yourself!) please let us know if you can help out by completing our One Day Event Volunteering form:

Our supporters

The Series would not be possible without the generous help and support of the following:

1344 Squadron RAF Cadets

 

Safestyle Security Services (CARDIFF, CF10 2EQ, 029 2022 1711, https://safestylesecurity.com)

 

RAF St Athan Station


 

Also additional thanks to several local supporters (who prefer to remain anonymous) as well as the Blackweir Tavern.

Photo Galleries

2022 Event Photo Gallery:

Special thanks to Phil Clements for these photos. Phil’s specialities are usually landscapes and astronomy (you can find him on Instagram @philclemphotography)

Previous Results