LAB 22 HOSPITALITY VS 10K RETURNS FOR ITS BIGGEST YEAR YET!
A grassroots running challenge created for Cardiff's hospitality community returns this September, bringing together 130 runners from more than 30 businesses to raise money for Dreams & Wishes Charity.
The Lab 22 Hospitality vs 10K Challenge will see runners from Cardiff's bars, restaurants, hotels and venues take on the CDF 10K on Sunday 6 September 2026.
Now in its third year, the initiative was started by Lab 22 owner Tani Hasa in 2024, when he purchased 30 race places for hospitality workers who might never previously have considered entering a 10K.
Those places disappeared almost immediately. Another 30 were purchased and 62 people eventually took part in the first challenge.
A year later, the team had grown to 100 runners, and in 2026 an incredible 130 people are signed up.
HOSPITALITY VS 10K 2026
130 RUNNERS
Sunday 6 September 2026
Cardiff CDF 10K
Bringing together the hospitality community to support wellbeing, friendship and Dreams & Wishes Charity.
MORE THAN JUST A RUN
The challenge has grown into something much bigger than a single race.
People who had never run before are now regular runners, taking part in other races and forming friendships with people working across Cardiff's hospitality sector.
Training, running and wellbeing have become shared interests, creating a new way for people to connect outside the workplace.
A MESSAGE FROM TANI HASA
Tani Hasa, Owner of Lab 22, 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."
The community has continued to grow between events, with participants meeting for training runs and other activities throughout the year.
BUILDING A STRONGER HOSPITALITY COMMUNITY
Sam Lloyd, Bar Manager at 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."
A PERSONAL CONNECTION TO DREAMS & WISHES
Alongside its focus on wellbeing, Hospitality vs 10K raises vital funds for Dreams & Wishes Charity.
The partnership has a very personal significance for the Lab 22 team.
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 team decided to continue supporting Dreams & Wishes as a way of honouring his legacy.
HONOURING JAY'S LEGACY
"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."
- Tani Hasa, Lab 22
RAISING THOUSANDS FOR DREAMS & WISHES
The challenge has already made an incredible difference to the charity.
£6,000+
Raised in 2024
£10,000+
Raised in 2025
Lab 22 funds every runner's race entry and provides personalised T-shirts and a special memento each year.
In 2024, runners received reusable water bottles. In 2025, they received team caps, and this year participants will receive Hospitality vs 10K lanyards.
MORE THAN A BAR
Tani Hasa 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."
SUPPORT FROM PASTURE CARDIFF
Pasture Cardiff will once again host a post-race buffet for all 130 runners on its terrace, generously donated by the restaurant.
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."
RUNNING CHANGED MY LIFE
Mary Ramskill, Front of House at Cosy Club Cardiff, said:
"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."
THREE YEARS AND COUNTING!
George Borthwick, Manager at Ivy Asia Cardiff, said:
"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!"
CARDIFF HOSPITALITY COMES TOGETHER
This year's 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
• Vicino