CEO blog - Autumn 2026

CEO Chris Jones reflects on a successful summer of sport and looks ahead to an autumn of important campaigns for England Athletics...

I love this time of the year, because it's a time when we get to say thank you. Thank you to all of the people working in the sport, especially volunteers, that have given so much over the spring and summer outdoor season.

Looking back on spring and summer

We've enjoyed a beautiful summer of weather, basked in achievements from various athletes from different ages and levels of the sport, from local, up to regional level, and then national level competition, and of course success at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games with 21 medals for Team England. We're very proud of the athletes and also the technical officials who were involved, and team management staff involved north of the border.

We were also very blessed this year to have a home European Athletics Championships, and my gratitude and praise must be given to the bodies involved - Athletic Ventures, particularly UK Athletics, who put on a brilliant championships. We were fortunate to be a core part of the social impact work that was taking place in the Birmingham and West Midlands area prior to, during and after the championships.

There were some brilliant performances from English athletes representing Great Britain and NI, and I thought the athletes were fantastic role models for our sport when interviewed, and UK Athletics CEO Jack Buckner spoke brilliantly to the BBC, talking about where the sport is, the optimism, enthusiasm and positivity within the sport as we look to the future.

It's disappointing that this country won't host the World Athletics Championships in 2029, but there are plenty of other reasons to be optimistic as we look forward.

A sport for everyone

I'm really proud and pleased to see ongoing growth in masters athletics in this country. We've been working closely with the England Masters Athletics Association to review what we can do together moving forwards. We know at England Athletics that this is a lifelong sport, a sport for everyone of all abilities and all backgrounds, and that two of our fastest-growing age segments of our membership are the over-60s and over-70s.

I also love this time of year as England Athletics is hosting our nine Regional Volunteer Award celebrations. They are moving, emotional, tear-jerking and they really remind me of why we do what we do as England Athletics. Our sport is indebted to countless volunteers across the country who give their time selflessly to benefit others.

I was delighted to be at the London Regional Club Forum recently, and the London Regional Volunteer Awards evening, where we heard some of those real-life stories where people are dedicating their time to help others, and many of the awards recipients or runners-up themselves were moved to tears.

It was a great depiction of what our sport offers, not just in terms of medals and performances, but also in terms of building and strengthening communities, helping people with their physical and mental wellbeing, and making our society a better place.

Upcoming campaigns and activities

With mental wellbeing in mind, I must mention our forthcoming #RunAndTalk campaign, to coincide with World Mental Health Day, as someone who has struggled with his own mental health for as long as I can remember. As a child, there were things that didn't feel quite right and I wasn't quite sure what they were or how to describe them in an era when talking about your mental health was almost a taboo subject. You were told to grow up and be positive, and there was little empathy.

Thankfully, we've come a way in the last 20 years, and I think it's really important that we create safe spaces, in the workplace, in our clubs and running groups, and in competitions, for people to feel that they belong, and to know that it's okay to be not okay, and that those safe spaces will create environments where conversations can take place, where we can help comfort one another, and help each other, and to make not only our sport healthier, but society healthier.

I am excited about our Let's Lift the Curfew campaign, again working in partnership with Sport England through This Girl Can, and we're going to be launching some activity in Birmingham as we shine a spotlight on women's safety in running, so I'd like to thank the people involved in the campaign.

Of course on 21 November, we will recognise our National Volunteer Award winners at our Hall of Fame celebrations in Birmingham, a kind of celebration of everything that is wonderful in our sport, and we'll be in the midst of countless cross country events that are taking place across the country, working with our partners, the English Cross Country Association, as they host their XC relays on the final weekend of October, a wonderful event for thousands of runners at Berry Hill Park in Mansfield, again a depiction of wonderful voluntary effort.

I must also thank our partners at the English Road Running Association as they host the National Road Relays at Sutton Park on 3 October, another wonderful event to behold.

Looking ahead to 2027

As we look to 2027, we'll be spending a lot of time with those competition providers that we fund and support as they evolve their competition offers, and look to grow participation and to ensure the best competitive experience. That's really important in this modern age. We all know that people are time-poor, and we're operating with the backdrop of a cost-of-living crisis. Most of the feedback that we're getting from competitors has been that travel distance can be a concern, that local is often better, and we want shorter, more dynamic experiences at our competitions.

Of course for our younger participants, we need to be looking at run-jump-throw, team environments, in what is a late development sport.

We're spending time over the next two or three months to assess the data from the spring and summer season, and working to support those competition providers that we fund. We'll be opening our competition grants process very shortly, and we'll be hosting a Competition Conference on Sunday 22 November, at the same venue as the Hall of Fame, on the day after.

In summary

I would like to continue to thank all of you for everything you do for our wonderful sport. We are so fortunate, whether we are working voluntarily or lucky enough to be employed within the sport, we're all in this together to leave the sport in a healthier position than whence we found it. Mindset is essential to that - keeping an open mind, being positive, being collaborative, being supportive, and above all, in the context of culture, being empathetic and caring for one another.

Take care and thank you,

Chris.