UK Athletics has confirmed the first wave of athletes selected to wear the GB and NI vest at the 2026 European Athletics Off-Road Running Championships, which will be staged in Ljubljana-Kamnik, Slovenia, from 5 to 7 June. The Novuna-supported squad opens its 2026 international campaign with what is shaping up as one of the strongest off-road fields the federation has fielded in recent years.
Headlining the early selections are middle-distance trail specialists Ben Rothery and Scarlet Dale, both of whom earned automatic call-ups after winning their respective titles at this season's UK Middle Distance Trail Running Championships. They are joined by Eve Pannone and Bertie Houghton, with further selections expected in the run-up to the championships across the long-distance, classic mountain, vertical uphill and short-trail disciplines that make up the European programme.
The decision to lead the announcement with the middle-distance trail specialists reflects how serious UK Athletics has become about a discipline that has historically sat slightly outside the federation's core programme. Since World Athletics formally absorbed off-road running into its global championship structure, performance funding and selection pathways have been overhauled, and the British team is now treated on more equal terms with the track and road squads.
Ljubljana-Kamnik is a venue purpose-built for the discipline. The host region offers steep alpine climbs out of the Kamnik-Savinja foothills, fast forest singletrack and a long-trail course that loops through the Kamniska Bistrica valley, exactly the kind of varied terrain that rewards British athletes who train across a mix of fells, moorland and forest trails. Slovenia's strong off-road tradition and the proximity of the Julian Alps will also draw a deep European field, with French, Italian and Spanish teams expected to be the primary podium rivals.
For the British team, the championships double as a useful sighter for the bigger off-road dates later in the season. Selections for the Trail and Mountain World Championships will follow on from European form, and the federation has flagged this Slovenian outing as a key benchmark fixture. Further GB and NI selections, including the long-trail names that British fans tend to recognise from World Series and Skyrunner events, are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.