Top athletes tackle the exciting new Podium Festival event in Leicester, historic English Schools Cross Country Champs in Pontefract and The Ten in California on March 16

Saturday promises to be a huge day for ambitious British distance runners. There are power-packed fields at the Sportsshoes Podium Festival in Leicester. The stars of the future are in action at the English Schools Cross Country Championships in Pontefract. Then, while Britain sleeps, Olympic hopefuls will attack 10,000m qualifying marks at The Ten in California.

Podium events are known for their super-quick 5km courses and this new Podium Festival event has attracted top-class fields due to Podiums reputation for staging athlete-friendly events and also a 30,000 prize pot, which includes record bonuses and help with travel and accommodation.

The races will unfold on the flat and fast New College cycle track with each lap almost a kilometre in length. Older ex-athletes might be familiar with the venue as it sits next to Western Park, the venue of several English National Cross Country Championships over the years such as the 1980 event won by Nick Rose.

The class of 2024 will be attacking the British 5km records held by Sam Atkin with 13:16 and Eilish McColgan with 14:45.

Beth Potter has run slightly faster, with 14:41 at a Podium event in Barrowford three years ago, but it was not ratified.

There are also England Athletics senior and under-20 titles at stake.

Will Barnicoat, the European under-23 cross-country champion, will use the race to help sharpen up for the World Cross Country Championships in Belgrade on March 30. Tom Evans and Tom Keen were also named in the World Cross squad this week and will be stretching their legs at the Podium Festival.

READ MORE: Will Barnicoat interview

All eyes will be on Jake Wightman as he continues his comeback from an injury-hit 2023. No one will expect the 2022 world 1500m champion to be at the absolute sharp end of this race but it will be interesting to see how he fares against specialist 5000m runners.

The same is true of Ben Pattison, the world 800m bronze medallist, who is testing his stamina ahead of a summer 800m campaign.

Triathlon specialist Alex Yee is an intriguing entry as his pedigree in running events is superb. Dont forget he out-sprinted Chris Thompson and Andy Vernon to finish first Brit home in the Night of the 10,000m PBs in 2018.

It will also be interesting to see how Callum Hawkins fares. The Scottish runner has finished fourth in the world marathon twice and is running the London Marathon next month but has been beset with injury issues in recent years.

Further leading British and Irish entries James West, Will Battershill, Jonny Davies and Nick Griggs. The overall winner could come from overseas, though.

The Brits will have their work cut out to beat Hagos Gebrhiwet. The Ethiopian is the star entry at the Podium Festival and if he is anywhere near top form (this is his first race of 2024 so his form is uncertain) he should be in control on Saturday.

It is just over a decade since Gebrhiwet chased Mo Farah home in the world 5000m final, finishing runner-up to the Brit in Moscow, followed by another podium place, this time bronze, behind Farah in Beijing two years later. But his 5000m best of 12:42.18 was set in 2023 and he is still only 29 years old.

Whats more, he won the inaugural world 5km title in Riga last October.

Gebrhiwet is not the only east African runner either. Daniel Kosen has run 27:01 for 10km on the roads, whereas fellow Kenyans Daniel Kimaiyo and Amos Langat also run.

The womens 5km field in Leicester is led by a Kenyan with Caroline Nyaga having run 14:35 on the roads in Lille 12 months ago. The 30-year-old is also a former winner of the African 10,000m title and has run 8:31.98 on the track for 3000m.

The British challenge is led by Melissa Courtney-Bryant, Abbie Donnelly and Verity Ockenden, with the latter being the first British woman home in the world 5km event in Riga last October.

World Cross-bound competitors Alex Millard, Beth Morley, Jess Bailey and Niamh Brown are also down to run.

Look out as well for Jenny Nesbitt and triathlete Sophie Coldwell, whereas the 1km time trial event includes Hannah Nuttall, Erin Wallace and Niamh Bridson-Hubbard among others.

READ MORE: Alex Millard interview

Jasmijn Lau of the Netherlands and Carla Gallardo of Spain are among a number of international entries too.

The eight-hour programme starts at 12 noon and features live bands and DJ entertainment and, for those who cannot attend, live streaming here.

There are junior races, a masters 5km, five open 5km races, a 1km time trial and elite 5km races.

As the Podium Festival gets underway, many of the nations leading teenage runners will be in action at the English Schools Cross Country Championships at Pontefract Racecourse in West Yorkshire.

Among those competing is Innes FitzGerald, the European cross-country champion who made a surprise late decision to run the World Cross later this month in Belgrade. She plans to incorporate the English Schools into her schedule as she gets ready for the global get-together on March 30.

READ MORE: English Schools Cross Country Champs full preview

As well as chasing national honours, many runners in Pontefract will be trying to qualify for the SIAB Cross Country International in Dublin the following weekend (March 23).

You can catch all the racing live streamed on the Vinco website here.

At 9pm in San Juan Capistrano in California on Saturday (4am in the UK) a number of Brits will be attacking the Olympic qualifying 10,000m times of 27:00.00 and 30:40.00 in The Ten.

Jess Warner-Judd will be hoping to threaten her PB of 30:35.93 as she takes on a strong womens field that includes Tsigie Gebreselama of Ethiopia and Alicia Monson, Weini Kelati and Karissa Schweizer of the United States.

Megan Keith, the European under-23 cross-country and 5000m champion, also races along with fellow Brit Amy-Eloise Neale.

The mens race is no less stacked with British runners Charlie Hicks, Patrick Dever and Jack Rowe taking on Grant Fisher, Woody Kincaid, Joe Klecker, Abdi Nur and Nico Young of the United States, with the latter making his 10,000m debut one week after winning a 3000m and 5000m double at the NCAA Indoor Champs.

Also running are Edwin Kurgat of Kenya, Mo Ahmed of Canada, Jack Rayner of New Zealand, Brian Fay of Ireland, Luis Grijalva of Guatemala and Isaac Kimeli of Belgium.

It promises to be quick as Fisher set the US mens record there in 2022 while Monson set the womens US record there last year.