British race director given lifetime ban for inappropriate relationships with athletes
A former British race director and athletics coach has received a lifetime ban from U.K. Athletics following a panel ruling that found him guilty of multiple breaches of UKA’s coaches’ code of conduct, including inappropriate relationships with athletes and the use of racist and misogynistic language.
Chris Barnes, who founded Great Britain’s popular Podium 5K series, an event designed to offer a fast, PB-friendly race environment for masters runners and sub-elites, engaged in inappropriate and intimate relationships with two of his athletes while serving as their coach. According to The Guardian, one relationship included the exchange of explicit images between March 2019 and January 2021. In another case, he failed to disclose he was married during a relationship with an athlete between February and June 2020.
Barnes also admitted to “making racist and discriminatory” remarks during conversations on Facebook Messenger between 2013 and 2020.
In another incident, the 48-year-old from Lancashire also allegedly prohibited an athlete from buying food, and when confronted, responded: “This is why your parents don’t want anything to do with you.” In August 2022, Barnes made more derogatory comments about a female athlete, calling her a “(expletive) heifer” and saying “she’s blown up.”
The case was judged under U.K. Athletics’ disciplinary rules and procedures, following an independent investigation into multiple violations of the governing body’s code of conduct for coaches. Barnes’s race series was bought by SportsShoes.com in 2021, and he served as an event manager with the company until being let go in May 2025 due to the investigation.
Barnes is now permanently banned from participating in athletics in any capacity in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. This includes any roles related to coaching, event organization, or involvement in any activities under UK Athletics or World Athletics regulations.
