130 Cardiff hospitality staff take on massive challenge

20/08/2026

A grassroots running challenge created specifically for Cardiff’s hospitality community will return this September for its biggest year yet, bringing together 130 people from across the city’s bars, restaurants and venues.

The Lab 22 Hospitality vs 10K Challenge will see runners representing more than 30 Cardiff hospitality businesses take on the CDF 10K on Sunday, September 6, raising money for Dreams & Wishes.

Now in its third year, the initiative was started by Lab 22 owner Tani Hasa after he bought 30 race places in 2024 and offered them to people working in hospitality who might never previously have considered entering a 10K.

Those first spaces disappeared almost immediately. Tani bought another 30 and, ultimately, 62 people took part in the inaugural challenge. A year later, the group had grown to 100.

In 2026, 130 people are signed up, with runners coming from across Cardiff’s restaurants, cocktail bars, pubs, hotels and leisure venues.

But organisers say its biggest impact has been less about the numbers and more about what has happened between the races.

People who had never run before the first event are now regular runners. Friendships have formed between people working in different venues and different parts of the industry. Training, races and wellbeing have become talking points across bars and restaurants in a sector where socialising has traditionally been more likely to revolve around going for a drink after a shift.

Lab 22 owner Tani said, “The first year was about convincing people who would never normally sign up for a 10K that they could do it. Three years later, some of those people are proper runners. They’re signing up for other races, running together and telling us what a difference it has made to their mental health.

“Run clubs are everywhere now, which is brilliant, but if you work evenings, weekends and irregular shifts in hospitality, a lot of those things just aren't designed around your life. We wanted to create something that was.

“Hospitality can become a cycle of working, drinking and sleeping if you're not careful. This has given people something completely different to connect over, and we've seen friendships and communities develop between people who might never otherwise have met.”

That community has also created its own momentum. Organisers say seeing colleagues train and take part has encouraged more people to join each year, while participants continue meeting for runs and other activities long after race day.

Sam Lloyd, Bar Manager of Lab 22, said, “One of the loveliest things has been hearing people talking about running across the bar, making plans with people from completely different venues and doing things together outside work.

“Hospitality is an incredibly sociable industry, but because of the hours we work, the different cultures within venues and simply people's different personalities, it doesn't always mean people have an easy way to make new connections.

“This has created that. People have something in common before they've even properly met, and it has given people a way to be part of the wider hospitality community that isn't just based around work or drinking.”

Alongside its wellbeing focus, Hospitality vs 10K raises funds for Dreams & Wishes. 

The partnership has personal significance for Lab 22. Former Dreams & Wishes ambassador Jay Page, a friend and supporter of the bar, originally encouraged Tani to raise money for the charity.

Following Jay’s death in 2025, the Lab 22 team decided that continuing to support Dreams & Wishes would also be a way of continuing his legacy.

Tani said, “Jay always supported us, and he was the person who first encouraged me to donate to Dreams & Wishes. He isn't here to do that anymore, so carrying that support forward feels really important to us.

“It's also a charity where the impact feels incredibly tangible. These are children and families within our own community here in South Wales, and you know the money you're raising can make an enormous difference to an individual family at an incredibly difficult time.”

The first Hospitality vs 10K raised more than £6,000 for the charity, while last year’s event generated more than £10,000.

Lab 22 funds all the entries for the runners as well as providing every runner with a personalised T-shirt and an additional memento each year.

In year one, runners received reusable water bottles; year two brought team caps; and this year participants will receive Hospitality vs 10K lanyards. For Tani, those items aren't intended as conventional merchandise.

He said, “It's not about wearing something because you bought it. It's about looking at it afterwards and thinking: ‘I was there. I did that with everyone.’

“The experience that we get to share with our community - the friendships built; the positive personal changes made; the opportunity to raise money for a brilliant cause - makes every hour of organisation and pound spent undoubtedly worth it for us."

“We've always said that Lab should be more than a bar. You can say you're a business that cares about its community, but ultimately it is actions that matter. We want to give people experiences that genuinely connect them with us and with each other.”

That approach has also attracted support from other businesses.

Pasture Cardiff will once again host a post-race buffet for all 130 runners on its terrace, donated by the restaurant with the support of General Manager Carys Northmore.

Carys Northmore, General Manager at Pasture Cardiff, said: “I have to say thank you to Tani and the Lab 22 team for getting myself and Pasture involved in such an incredible event, now for the third year in a row.

“Running with everyone is an amazing reminder of the strong hospitality community that we have in Cardiff, and to be able to unite everyone for an amazing cause means so much.”

For some participants, the challenge has already had a profound personal impact.

Mary Ramskill, Front of House at Cosy Club Cardiff, explained, “I went along to the first 10K to cheer everyone on. I was so proud and inspired by everyone but, having a chronic illness, I thought it wasn't something I'd ever be able to achieve, but thanks to encouragement from Tani, Meg and my husband, I started running.”

“What they have created has been incredible for our hospitality community. It's amazing to see everyone come together and support each other, and the money raised and the impact that's made is huge.

But personally, running has changed my life and I'll be forever grateful.”

George Borthwick, Manager at Ivy Asia Cardiff, added: “The first year I signed up was to prove a point to Tani that I could run a 10K, as he joked that he didn't think I could. Three years down the line, here I am continuing to prove to him that I can. May it long continue!”

This year’s Hospitality vs 10K team includes representatives from Asador 44, Barbara’s, Be At One, Bonnie Rogues, The Botanist, Bran, Browns, Cosy Club, Curado, Dirty Gnocchi, Gaucho, Golf Fang, Gin & Juice, Glamorgan Cricket, Ivy Asia, Lab 22, Lowkey, Mad Dog, Mowgli, Nighthawks, NQ64 Arcade Bar, Parallel, Pasture, Picton & Co, Rum & Fizz, Security Cymru, Six by Nico, Sonder, The Cocktail Club, The Dead Canary, The Bear, Tonight Josephine and Vicino.

With the Cardiff challenge now established, Tani and the team also hope to take the concept further in future, with ambitions for ‘Hospitality vs 10K on Tour’, encouraging hospitality communities elsewhere to come together around running, wellbeing and local charitable causes.

Businesses and individuals interested in sponsoring or supporting Hospitality vs 10K 2026 are invited to contact the Lab 22 team. Anyone interested in sponsoring the 2026 Lab 22 Hospitality vs 10K team can visit https://www.justgiving.com/team/lab22hospitalityvs10k to donate or find out more.