diff --git a/test/integration/scheduler_perf/scheduler_perf.go b/test/integration/scheduler_perf/scheduler_perf.go
index 6a0c11c149f..19c1ddc352c 100644
--- a/test/integration/scheduler_perf/scheduler_perf.go
+++ b/test/integration/scheduler_perf/scheduler_perf.go
@@ -1194,7 +1194,10 @@ func RunBenchmarkPerfScheduling(b *testing.B, configFile string, topicName strin
 						b.Fatalf("workload %s is not valid: %v", w.Name, err)
 					}
 
-					results := runWorkload(tCtx, tc, w, informerFactory)
+					results, err := runWorkload(tCtx, tc, w, informerFactory)
+					if err != nil {
+						tCtx.Fatalf("Error running workload %s: %s", w.Name, err)
+					}
 					dataItems.DataItems = append(dataItems.DataItems, results...)
 
 					if len(results) > 0 {
@@ -1292,7 +1295,10 @@ func RunIntegrationPerfScheduling(t *testing.T, configFile string) {
 						t.Fatalf("workload %s is not valid: %v", w.Name, err)
 					}
 
-					runWorkload(tCtx, tc, w, informerFactory)
+					_, err = runWorkload(tCtx, tc, w, informerFactory)
+					if err != nil {
+						tCtx.Fatalf("Error running workload %s: %s", w.Name, err)
+					}
 
 					if featureGates[features.SchedulerQueueingHints] {
 						// In any case, we should make sure InFlightEvents is empty after running the scenario.
@@ -1410,7 +1416,7 @@ func checkEmptyInFlightEvents() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func startCollectingMetrics(tCtx ktesting.TContext, collectorWG *sync.WaitGroup, podInformer coreinformers.PodInformer, mcc *metricsCollectorConfig, throughputErrorMargin float64, opIndex int, name string, namespaces []string, labelSelector map[string]string) (ktesting.TContext, []testDataCollector) {
+func startCollectingMetrics(tCtx ktesting.TContext, collectorWG *sync.WaitGroup, podInformer coreinformers.PodInformer, mcc *metricsCollectorConfig, throughputErrorMargin float64, opIndex int, name string, namespaces []string, labelSelector map[string]string) (ktesting.TContext, []testDataCollector, error) {
 	collectorCtx := ktesting.WithCancel(tCtx)
 	workloadName := tCtx.Name()
 	// The first part is the same for each workload, therefore we can strip it.
@@ -1421,20 +1427,23 @@ func startCollectingMetrics(tCtx ktesting.TContext, collectorWG *sync.WaitGroup,
 		collector := collector
 		err := collector.init()
 		if err != nil {
-			tCtx.Fatalf("op %d: Failed to initialize data collector: %v", opIndex, err)
+			return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to initialize data collector: %w", err)
 		}
+		tCtx.TB().Cleanup(func() {
+			collectorCtx.Cancel("cleaning up")
+		})
 		collectorWG.Add(1)
 		go func() {
 			defer collectorWG.Done()
 			collector.run(collectorCtx)
 		}()
 	}
-	return collectorCtx, collectors
+	return collectorCtx, collectors, nil
 }
 
-func stopCollectingMetrics(tCtx ktesting.TContext, collectorCtx ktesting.TContext, collectorWG *sync.WaitGroup, threshold float64, tms thresholdMetricSelector, opIndex int, collectors []testDataCollector) []DataItem {
+func stopCollectingMetrics(tCtx ktesting.TContext, collectorCtx ktesting.TContext, collectorWG *sync.WaitGroup, threshold float64, tms thresholdMetricSelector, opIndex int, collectors []testDataCollector) ([]DataItem, error) {
 	if collectorCtx == nil {
-		tCtx.Fatalf("op %d: Missing startCollectingMetrics operation before stopping", opIndex)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("missing startCollectingMetrics operation before stopping")
 	}
 	collectorCtx.Cancel("collecting metrics, collector must stop first")
 	collectorWG.Wait()
@@ -1447,10 +1456,25 @@ func stopCollectingMetrics(tCtx ktesting.TContext, collectorCtx ktesting.TContex
 			tCtx.Errorf("op %d: %s", opIndex, err)
 		}
 	}
-	return dataItems
+	return dataItems, nil
 }
 
-func runWorkload(tCtx ktesting.TContext, tc *testCase, w *workload, informerFactory informers.SharedInformerFactory) []DataItem {
+type WorkloadExecutor struct {
+	tCtx                         ktesting.TContext
+	wg                           sync.WaitGroup
+	collectorCtx                 ktesting.TContext
+	collectorWG                  sync.WaitGroup
+	collectors                   []testDataCollector
+	dataItems                    []DataItem
+	numPodsScheduledPerNamespace map[string]int
+	podInformer                  coreinformers.PodInformer
+	throughputErrorMargin        float64
+	testCase                     *testCase
+	workload                     *workload
+	nextNodeIndex                int
+}
+
+func runWorkload(tCtx ktesting.TContext, tc *testCase, w *workload, informerFactory informers.SharedInformerFactory) ([]DataItem, error) {
 	b, benchmarking := tCtx.TB().(*testing.B)
 	if benchmarking {
 		start := time.Now()
@@ -1481,343 +1505,408 @@ func runWorkload(tCtx ktesting.TContext, tc *testCase, w *workload, informerFact
 
 	// Everything else started by this function gets stopped before it returns.
 	tCtx = ktesting.WithCancel(tCtx)
-	var wg sync.WaitGroup
-	defer wg.Wait()
-	defer tCtx.Cancel("workload is done")
 
-	var dataItems []DataItem
-	nextNodeIndex := 0
-	// numPodsScheduledPerNamespace has all namespaces created in workload and the number of pods they (will) have.
-	// All namespaces listed in numPodsScheduledPerNamespace will be cleaned up.
-	numPodsScheduledPerNamespace := make(map[string]int)
+	executor := WorkloadExecutor{
+		tCtx:                         tCtx,
+		numPodsScheduledPerNamespace: make(map[string]int),
+		podInformer:                  podInformer,
+		throughputErrorMargin:        throughputErrorMargin,
+		testCase:                     tc,
+		workload:                     w,
+	}
 
-	var collectors []testDataCollector
-	// This needs a separate context and wait group because
-	// the metrics collecting needs to be sure that the goroutines
-	// are stopped.
-	var collectorCtx ktesting.TContext
-	var collectorWG sync.WaitGroup
-	defer collectorWG.Wait()
+	tCtx.TB().Cleanup(func() {
+		tCtx.Cancel("workload is done")
+		executor.collectorWG.Wait()
+		executor.wg.Wait()
+	})
 
 	for opIndex, op := range unrollWorkloadTemplate(tCtx, tc.WorkloadTemplate, w) {
 		realOp, err := op.realOp.patchParams(w)
 		if err != nil {
-			tCtx.Fatalf("op %d: %v", opIndex, err)
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("op %d: %w", opIndex, err)
 		}
 		select {
 		case <-tCtx.Done():
-			tCtx.Fatalf("op %d: %v", opIndex, context.Cause(tCtx))
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("op %d: %w", opIndex, context.Cause(tCtx))
 		default:
 		}
-		switch concreteOp := realOp.(type) {
-		case *createNodesOp:
-			nodePreparer, err := getNodePreparer(fmt.Sprintf("node-%d-", opIndex), concreteOp, tCtx.Client())
-			if err != nil {
-				tCtx.Fatalf("op %d: %v", opIndex, err)
-			}
-			if err := nodePreparer.PrepareNodes(tCtx, nextNodeIndex); err != nil {
-				tCtx.Fatalf("op %d: %v", opIndex, err)
-			}
-			nextNodeIndex += concreteOp.Count
-
-		case *createNamespacesOp:
-			nsPreparer, err := newNamespacePreparer(tCtx, concreteOp)
-			if err != nil {
-				tCtx.Fatalf("op %d: %v", opIndex, err)
-			}
-			if err := nsPreparer.prepare(tCtx); err != nil {
-				err2 := nsPreparer.cleanup(tCtx)
-				if err2 != nil {
-					err = fmt.Errorf("prepare: %v; cleanup: %v", err, err2)
-				}
-				tCtx.Fatalf("op %d: %v", opIndex, err)
-			}
-			for _, n := range nsPreparer.namespaces() {
-				if _, ok := numPodsScheduledPerNamespace[n]; ok {
-					// this namespace has been already created.
-					continue
-				}
-				numPodsScheduledPerNamespace[n] = 0
-			}
-
-		case *createPodsOp:
-			var namespace string
-			// define Pod's namespace automatically, and create that namespace.
-			namespace = fmt.Sprintf("namespace-%d", opIndex)
-			if concreteOp.Namespace != nil {
-				namespace = *concreteOp.Namespace
-			}
-			createNamespaceIfNotPresent(tCtx, namespace, &numPodsScheduledPerNamespace)
-			if concreteOp.PodTemplatePath == nil {
-				concreteOp.PodTemplatePath = tc.DefaultPodTemplatePath
-			}
-
-			if concreteOp.CollectMetrics {
-				if collectorCtx != nil {
-					tCtx.Fatalf("op %d: Metrics collection is overlapping. Probably second collector was started before stopping a previous one", opIndex)
-				}
-				collectorCtx, collectors = startCollectingMetrics(tCtx, &collectorWG, podInformer, tc.MetricsCollectorConfig, throughputErrorMargin, opIndex, namespace, []string{namespace}, nil)
-				defer collectorCtx.Cancel("cleaning up")
-			}
-			if err := createPodsRapidly(tCtx, namespace, concreteOp); err != nil {
-				tCtx.Fatalf("op %d: %v", opIndex, err)
-			}
-			switch {
-			case concreteOp.SkipWaitToCompletion:
-				// Only record those namespaces that may potentially require barriers
-				// in the future.
-				numPodsScheduledPerNamespace[namespace] += concreteOp.Count
-			case concreteOp.SteadyState:
-				if err := createPodsSteadily(tCtx, namespace, podInformer, concreteOp); err != nil {
-					tCtx.Fatalf("op %d: %v", opIndex, err)
-				}
-			default:
-				if err := waitUntilPodsScheduledInNamespace(tCtx, podInformer, nil, namespace, concreteOp.Count); err != nil {
-					tCtx.Fatalf("op %d: error in waiting for pods to get scheduled: %v", opIndex, err)
-				}
-			}
-			if concreteOp.CollectMetrics {
-				// CollectMetrics and SkipWaitToCompletion can never be true at the
-				// same time, so if we're here, it means that all pods have been
-				// scheduled.
-				items := stopCollectingMetrics(tCtx, collectorCtx, &collectorWG, w.Threshold, *w.ThresholdMetricSelector, opIndex, collectors)
-				dataItems = append(dataItems, items...)
-				collectorCtx = nil
-			}
-
-		case *deletePodsOp:
-			labelSelector := labels.ValidatedSetSelector(concreteOp.LabelSelector)
-
-			podsToDelete, err := podInformer.Lister().Pods(concreteOp.Namespace).List(labelSelector)
-			if err != nil {
-				tCtx.Fatalf("op %d: error in listing pods in the namespace %s: %v", opIndex, concreteOp.Namespace, err)
-			}
-
-			deletePods := func(opIndex int) {
-				if concreteOp.DeletePodsPerSecond > 0 {
-					ticker := time.NewTicker(time.Second / time.Duration(concreteOp.DeletePodsPerSecond))
-					defer ticker.Stop()
-
-					for i := 0; i < len(podsToDelete); i++ {
-						select {
-						case <-ticker.C:
-							if err := tCtx.Client().CoreV1().Pods(concreteOp.Namespace).Delete(tCtx, podsToDelete[i].Name, metav1.DeleteOptions{}); err != nil {
-								if errors.Is(err, context.Canceled) {
-									return
-								}
-								tCtx.Errorf("op %d: unable to delete pod %v: %v", opIndex, podsToDelete[i].Name, err)
-							}
-						case <-tCtx.Done():
-							return
-						}
-					}
-					return
-				}
-				listOpts := metav1.ListOptions{
-					LabelSelector: labelSelector.String(),
-				}
-				if err := tCtx.Client().CoreV1().Pods(concreteOp.Namespace).DeleteCollection(tCtx, metav1.DeleteOptions{}, listOpts); err != nil {
-					if errors.Is(err, context.Canceled) {
-						return
-					}
-					tCtx.Errorf("op %d: unable to delete pods in namespace %v: %v", opIndex, concreteOp.Namespace, err)
-				}
-			}
-
-			if concreteOp.SkipWaitToCompletion {
-				wg.Add(1)
-				go func(opIndex int) {
-					defer wg.Done()
-					deletePods(opIndex)
-				}(opIndex)
-			} else {
-				deletePods(opIndex)
-			}
-
-		case *churnOp:
-			var namespace string
-			if concreteOp.Namespace != nil {
-				namespace = *concreteOp.Namespace
-			} else {
-				namespace = fmt.Sprintf("namespace-%d", opIndex)
-			}
-			restMapper := restmapper.NewDeferredDiscoveryRESTMapper(cacheddiscovery.NewMemCacheClient(tCtx.Client().Discovery()))
-			// Ensure the namespace exists.
-			nsObj := &v1.Namespace{ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{Name: namespace}}
-			if _, err := tCtx.Client().CoreV1().Namespaces().Create(tCtx, nsObj, metav1.CreateOptions{}); err != nil && !apierrors.IsAlreadyExists(err) {
-				tCtx.Fatalf("op %d: unable to create namespace %v: %v", opIndex, namespace, err)
-			}
-
-			var churnFns []func(name string) string
-
-			for i, path := range concreteOp.TemplatePaths {
-				unstructuredObj, gvk, err := getUnstructuredFromFile(path)
-				if err != nil {
-					tCtx.Fatalf("op %d: unable to parse the %v-th template path: %v", opIndex, i, err)
-				}
-				// Obtain GVR.
-				mapping, err := restMapper.RESTMapping(gvk.GroupKind(), gvk.Version)
-				if err != nil {
-					tCtx.Fatalf("op %d: unable to find GVR for %v: %v", opIndex, gvk, err)
-				}
-				gvr := mapping.Resource
-				// Distinguish cluster-scoped with namespaced API objects.
-				var dynRes dynamic.ResourceInterface
-				if mapping.Scope.Name() == meta.RESTScopeNameNamespace {
-					dynRes = tCtx.Dynamic().Resource(gvr).Namespace(namespace)
-				} else {
-					dynRes = tCtx.Dynamic().Resource(gvr)
-				}
-
-				churnFns = append(churnFns, func(name string) string {
-					if name != "" {
-						if err := dynRes.Delete(tCtx, name, metav1.DeleteOptions{}); err != nil && !errors.Is(err, context.Canceled) {
-							tCtx.Errorf("op %d: unable to delete %v: %v", opIndex, name, err)
-						}
-						return ""
-					}
-
-					live, err := dynRes.Create(tCtx, unstructuredObj, metav1.CreateOptions{})
-					if err != nil {
-						return ""
-					}
-					return live.GetName()
-				})
-			}
-
-			var interval int64 = 500
-			if concreteOp.IntervalMilliseconds != 0 {
-				interval = concreteOp.IntervalMilliseconds
-			}
-			ticker := time.NewTicker(time.Duration(interval) * time.Millisecond)
-			defer ticker.Stop()
-
-			switch concreteOp.Mode {
-			case Create:
-				wg.Add(1)
-				go func() {
-					defer wg.Done()
-					count, threshold := 0, concreteOp.Number
-					if threshold == 0 {
-						threshold = math.MaxInt32
-					}
-					for count < threshold {
-						select {
-						case <-ticker.C:
-							for i := range churnFns {
-								churnFns[i]("")
-							}
-							count++
-						case <-tCtx.Done():
-							return
-						}
-					}
-				}()
-			case Recreate:
-				wg.Add(1)
-				go func() {
-					defer wg.Done()
-					retVals := make([][]string, len(churnFns))
-					// For each churn function, instantiate a slice of strings with length "concreteOp.Number".
-					for i := range retVals {
-						retVals[i] = make([]string, concreteOp.Number)
-					}
-
-					count := 0
-					for {
-						select {
-						case <-ticker.C:
-							for i := range churnFns {
-								retVals[i][count%concreteOp.Number] = churnFns[i](retVals[i][count%concreteOp.Number])
-							}
-							count++
-						case <-tCtx.Done():
-							return
-						}
-					}
-				}()
-			}
-
-		case *barrierOp:
-			for _, namespace := range concreteOp.Namespaces {
-				if _, ok := numPodsScheduledPerNamespace[namespace]; !ok {
-					tCtx.Fatalf("op %d: unknown namespace %s", opIndex, namespace)
-				}
-			}
-			switch concreteOp.StageRequirement {
-			case Attempted:
-				if err := waitUntilPodsAttempted(tCtx, podInformer, concreteOp.LabelSelector, concreteOp.Namespaces, numPodsScheduledPerNamespace); err != nil {
-					tCtx.Fatalf("op %d: %v", opIndex, err)
-				}
-			case Scheduled:
-				// Default should be treated like "Scheduled", so handling both in the same way.
-				fallthrough
-			default:
-				if err := waitUntilPodsScheduled(tCtx, podInformer, concreteOp.LabelSelector, concreteOp.Namespaces, numPodsScheduledPerNamespace); err != nil {
-					tCtx.Fatalf("op %d: %v", opIndex, err)
-				}
-				// At the end of the barrier, we can be sure that there are no pods
-				// pending scheduling in the namespaces that we just blocked on.
-				if len(concreteOp.Namespaces) == 0 {
-					numPodsScheduledPerNamespace = make(map[string]int)
-				} else {
-					for _, namespace := range concreteOp.Namespaces {
-						delete(numPodsScheduledPerNamespace, namespace)
-					}
-				}
-			}
-
-		case *sleepOp:
-			select {
-			case <-tCtx.Done():
-			case <-time.After(concreteOp.Duration.Duration):
-			}
-
-		case *startCollectingMetricsOp:
-			if collectorCtx != nil {
-				tCtx.Fatalf("op %d: Metrics collection is overlapping. Probably second collector was started before stopping a previous one", opIndex)
-			}
-			collectorCtx, collectors = startCollectingMetrics(tCtx, &collectorWG, podInformer, tc.MetricsCollectorConfig, throughputErrorMargin, opIndex, concreteOp.Name, concreteOp.Namespaces, concreteOp.LabelSelector)
-			defer collectorCtx.Cancel("cleaning up")
-
-		case *stopCollectingMetricsOp:
-			items := stopCollectingMetrics(tCtx, collectorCtx, &collectorWG, w.Threshold, *w.ThresholdMetricSelector, opIndex, collectors)
-			dataItems = append(dataItems, items...)
-			collectorCtx = nil
-
-		default:
-			runable, ok := concreteOp.(runnableOp)
-			if !ok {
-				tCtx.Fatalf("op %d: invalid op %v", opIndex, concreteOp)
-			}
-			for _, namespace := range runable.requiredNamespaces() {
-				createNamespaceIfNotPresent(tCtx, namespace, &numPodsScheduledPerNamespace)
-			}
-			runable.run(tCtx)
+		err = executor.runOp(realOp, opIndex)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("op %d: %w", opIndex, err)
 		}
 	}
 
 	// check unused params and inform users
 	unusedParams := w.unusedParams()
 	if len(unusedParams) != 0 {
-		tCtx.Fatalf("the parameters %v are defined on workload %s, but unused.\nPlease make sure there are no typos.", unusedParams, w.Name)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("the parameters %v are defined on workload %s, but unused.\nPlease make sure there are no typos", unusedParams, w.Name)
 	}
 
 	// Some tests have unschedulable pods. Do not add an implicit barrier at the
 	// end as we do not want to wait for them.
-	return dataItems
+	return executor.dataItems, nil
 }
 
-func createNamespaceIfNotPresent(tCtx ktesting.TContext, namespace string, podsPerNamespace *map[string]int) {
+func (e *WorkloadExecutor) runOp(op realOp, opIndex int) error {
+	switch concreteOp := op.(type) {
+	case *createNodesOp:
+		return e.runCreateNodesOp(opIndex, concreteOp)
+	case *createNamespacesOp:
+		return e.runCreateNamespaceOp(opIndex, concreteOp)
+	case *createPodsOp:
+		return e.runCreatePodsOp(opIndex, concreteOp)
+	case *deletePodsOp:
+		return e.runDeletePodsOp(opIndex, concreteOp)
+	case *churnOp:
+		return e.runChurnOp(opIndex, concreteOp)
+	case *barrierOp:
+		return e.runBarrierOp(opIndex, concreteOp)
+	case *sleepOp:
+		return e.runSleepOp(concreteOp)
+	case *startCollectingMetricsOp:
+		return e.runStartCollectingMetricsOp(opIndex, concreteOp)
+	case *stopCollectingMetricsOp:
+		return e.runStopCollectingMetrics(opIndex)
+	default:
+		return e.runDefaultOp(opIndex, concreteOp)
+	}
+}
+
+func (e *WorkloadExecutor) runCreateNodesOp(opIndex int, op *createNodesOp) error {
+	nodePreparer, err := getNodePreparer(fmt.Sprintf("node-%d-", opIndex), op, e.tCtx.Client())
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if err := nodePreparer.PrepareNodes(e.tCtx, e.nextNodeIndex); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	e.nextNodeIndex += op.Count
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (e *WorkloadExecutor) runCreateNamespaceOp(opIndex int, op *createNamespacesOp) error {
+	nsPreparer, err := newNamespacePreparer(e.tCtx, op)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if err := nsPreparer.prepare(e.tCtx); err != nil {
+		err2 := nsPreparer.cleanup(e.tCtx)
+		if err2 != nil {
+			err = fmt.Errorf("prepare: %w; cleanup: %w", err, err2)
+		}
+		return err
+	}
+	for _, n := range nsPreparer.namespaces() {
+		if _, ok := e.numPodsScheduledPerNamespace[n]; ok {
+			// this namespace has been already created.
+			continue
+		}
+		e.numPodsScheduledPerNamespace[n] = 0
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (e *WorkloadExecutor) runBarrierOp(opIndex int, op *barrierOp) error {
+	for _, namespace := range op.Namespaces {
+		if _, ok := e.numPodsScheduledPerNamespace[namespace]; !ok {
+			return fmt.Errorf("unknown namespace %s", namespace)
+		}
+	}
+	switch op.StageRequirement {
+	case Attempted:
+		if err := waitUntilPodsAttempted(e.tCtx, e.podInformer, op.LabelSelector, op.Namespaces, e.numPodsScheduledPerNamespace); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	case Scheduled:
+		// Default should be treated like "Scheduled", so handling both in the same way.
+		fallthrough
+	default:
+		if err := waitUntilPodsScheduled(e.tCtx, e.podInformer, op.LabelSelector, op.Namespaces, e.numPodsScheduledPerNamespace); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		// At the end of the barrier, we can be sure that there are no pods
+		// pending scheduling in the namespaces that we just blocked on.
+		if len(op.Namespaces) == 0 {
+			e.numPodsScheduledPerNamespace = make(map[string]int)
+		} else {
+			for _, namespace := range op.Namespaces {
+				delete(e.numPodsScheduledPerNamespace, namespace)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (e *WorkloadExecutor) runSleepOp(op *sleepOp) error {
+	select {
+	case <-e.tCtx.Done():
+	case <-time.After(op.Duration.Duration):
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (e *WorkloadExecutor) runStopCollectingMetrics(opIndex int) error {
+	items, err := stopCollectingMetrics(e.tCtx, e.collectorCtx, &e.collectorWG, e.workload.Threshold, *e.workload.ThresholdMetricSelector, opIndex, e.collectors)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	e.dataItems = append(e.dataItems, items...)
+	e.collectorCtx = nil
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (e *WorkloadExecutor) runCreatePodsOp(opIndex int, op *createPodsOp) error {
+	// define Pod's namespace automatically, and create that namespace.
+	namespace := fmt.Sprintf("namespace-%d", opIndex)
+	if op.Namespace != nil {
+		namespace = *op.Namespace
+	}
+	err := createNamespaceIfNotPresent(e.tCtx, namespace, &e.numPodsScheduledPerNamespace)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if op.PodTemplatePath == nil {
+		op.PodTemplatePath = e.testCase.DefaultPodTemplatePath
+	}
+
+	if op.CollectMetrics {
+		if e.collectorCtx != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("metrics collection is overlapping. Probably second collector was started before stopping a previous one")
+		}
+		var err error
+		e.collectorCtx, e.collectors, err = startCollectingMetrics(e.tCtx, &e.collectorWG, e.podInformer, e.testCase.MetricsCollectorConfig, e.throughputErrorMargin, opIndex, namespace, []string{namespace}, nil)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+	if err := createPodsRapidly(e.tCtx, namespace, op); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	switch {
+	case op.SkipWaitToCompletion:
+		// Only record those namespaces that may potentially require barriers
+		// in the future.
+		e.numPodsScheduledPerNamespace[namespace] += op.Count
+	case op.SteadyState:
+		if err := createPodsSteadily(e.tCtx, namespace, e.podInformer, op); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	default:
+		if err := waitUntilPodsScheduledInNamespace(e.tCtx, e.podInformer, nil, namespace, op.Count); err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("error in waiting for pods to get scheduled: %w", err)
+		}
+	}
+	if op.CollectMetrics {
+		// CollectMetrics and SkipWaitToCompletion can never be true at the
+		// same time, so if we're here, it means that all pods have been
+		// scheduled.
+		items, err := stopCollectingMetrics(e.tCtx, e.collectorCtx, &e.collectorWG, e.workload.Threshold, *e.workload.ThresholdMetricSelector, opIndex, e.collectors)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		e.dataItems = append(e.dataItems, items...)
+		e.collectorCtx = nil
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (e *WorkloadExecutor) runDeletePodsOp(opIndex int, op *deletePodsOp) error {
+	labelSelector := labels.ValidatedSetSelector(op.LabelSelector)
+
+	podsToDelete, err := e.podInformer.Lister().Pods(op.Namespace).List(labelSelector)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("error in listing pods in the namespace %s: %w", op.Namespace, err)
+	}
+
+	deletePods := func(opIndex int) {
+		if op.DeletePodsPerSecond > 0 {
+			ticker := time.NewTicker(time.Second / time.Duration(op.DeletePodsPerSecond))
+			defer ticker.Stop()
+
+			for i := 0; i < len(podsToDelete); i++ {
+				select {
+				case <-ticker.C:
+					if err := e.tCtx.Client().CoreV1().Pods(op.Namespace).Delete(e.tCtx, podsToDelete[i].Name, metav1.DeleteOptions{}); err != nil {
+						if errors.Is(err, context.Canceled) {
+							return
+						}
+						e.tCtx.Errorf("op %d: unable to delete pod %v: %v", opIndex, podsToDelete[i].Name, err)
+					}
+				case <-e.tCtx.Done():
+					return
+				}
+			}
+			return
+		}
+		listOpts := metav1.ListOptions{
+			LabelSelector: labelSelector.String(),
+		}
+		if err := e.tCtx.Client().CoreV1().Pods(op.Namespace).DeleteCollection(e.tCtx, metav1.DeleteOptions{}, listOpts); err != nil {
+			if errors.Is(err, context.Canceled) {
+				return
+			}
+			e.tCtx.Errorf("op %d: unable to delete pods in namespace %v: %v", opIndex, op.Namespace, err)
+		}
+	}
+
+	if op.SkipWaitToCompletion {
+		e.wg.Add(1)
+		go func(opIndex int) {
+			defer e.wg.Done()
+			deletePods(opIndex)
+		}(opIndex)
+	} else {
+		deletePods(opIndex)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (e *WorkloadExecutor) runChurnOp(opIndex int, op *churnOp) error {
+	var namespace string
+	if op.Namespace != nil {
+		namespace = *op.Namespace
+	} else {
+		namespace = fmt.Sprintf("namespace-%d", opIndex)
+	}
+	restMapper := restmapper.NewDeferredDiscoveryRESTMapper(cacheddiscovery.NewMemCacheClient(e.tCtx.Client().Discovery()))
+	// Ensure the namespace exists.
+	nsObj := &v1.Namespace{ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{Name: namespace}}
+	if _, err := e.tCtx.Client().CoreV1().Namespaces().Create(e.tCtx, nsObj, metav1.CreateOptions{}); err != nil && !apierrors.IsAlreadyExists(err) {
+		return fmt.Errorf("unable to create namespace %v: %w", namespace, err)
+	}
+
+	var churnFns []func(name string) string
+
+	for i, path := range op.TemplatePaths {
+		unstructuredObj, gvk, err := getUnstructuredFromFile(path)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("unable to parse the %v-th template path: %w", i, err)
+		}
+		// Obtain GVR.
+		mapping, err := restMapper.RESTMapping(gvk.GroupKind(), gvk.Version)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("unable to find GVR for %v: %w", gvk, err)
+		}
+		gvr := mapping.Resource
+		// Distinguish cluster-scoped with namespaced API objects.
+		var dynRes dynamic.ResourceInterface
+		if mapping.Scope.Name() == meta.RESTScopeNameNamespace {
+			dynRes = e.tCtx.Dynamic().Resource(gvr).Namespace(namespace)
+		} else {
+			dynRes = e.tCtx.Dynamic().Resource(gvr)
+		}
+
+		churnFns = append(churnFns, func(name string) string {
+			if name != "" {
+				if err := dynRes.Delete(e.tCtx, name, metav1.DeleteOptions{}); err != nil && !errors.Is(err, context.Canceled) {
+					e.tCtx.Errorf("op %d: unable to delete %v: %v", opIndex, name, err)
+				}
+				return ""
+			}
+
+			live, err := dynRes.Create(e.tCtx, unstructuredObj, metav1.CreateOptions{})
+			if err != nil {
+				return ""
+			}
+			return live.GetName()
+		})
+	}
+
+	var interval int64 = 500
+	if op.IntervalMilliseconds != 0 {
+		interval = op.IntervalMilliseconds
+	}
+	ticker := time.NewTicker(time.Duration(interval) * time.Millisecond)
+
+	switch op.Mode {
+	case Create:
+		e.wg.Add(1)
+		go func() {
+			defer e.wg.Done()
+			defer ticker.Stop()
+			count, threshold := 0, op.Number
+			if threshold == 0 {
+				threshold = math.MaxInt32
+			}
+			for count < threshold {
+				select {
+				case <-ticker.C:
+					for i := range churnFns {
+						churnFns[i]("")
+					}
+					count++
+				case <-e.tCtx.Done():
+					return
+				}
+			}
+		}()
+	case Recreate:
+		e.wg.Add(1)
+		go func() {
+			defer e.wg.Done()
+			defer ticker.Stop()
+			retVals := make([][]string, len(churnFns))
+			// For each churn function, instantiate a slice of strings with length "op.Number".
+			for i := range retVals {
+				retVals[i] = make([]string, op.Number)
+			}
+
+			count := 0
+			for {
+				select {
+				case <-ticker.C:
+					for i := range churnFns {
+						retVals[i][count%op.Number] = churnFns[i](retVals[i][count%op.Number])
+					}
+					count++
+				case <-e.tCtx.Done():
+					return
+				}
+			}
+		}()
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (e *WorkloadExecutor) runDefaultOp(opIndex int, op realOp) error {
+	runable, ok := op.(runnableOp)
+	if !ok {
+		return fmt.Errorf("invalid op %v", op)
+	}
+	for _, namespace := range runable.requiredNamespaces() {
+		err := createNamespaceIfNotPresent(e.tCtx, namespace, &e.numPodsScheduledPerNamespace)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+	runable.run(e.tCtx)
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (e *WorkloadExecutor) runStartCollectingMetricsOp(opIndex int, op *startCollectingMetricsOp) error {
+	if e.collectorCtx != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("metrics collection is overlapping. Probably second collector was started before stopping a previous one")
+	}
+	var err error
+	e.collectorCtx, e.collectors, err = startCollectingMetrics(e.tCtx, &e.collectorWG, e.podInformer, e.testCase.MetricsCollectorConfig, e.throughputErrorMargin, opIndex, op.Name, op.Namespaces, op.LabelSelector)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func createNamespaceIfNotPresent(tCtx ktesting.TContext, namespace string, podsPerNamespace *map[string]int) error {
 	if _, ok := (*podsPerNamespace)[namespace]; !ok {
 		// The namespace has not created yet.
 		// So, create that and register it.
 		_, err := tCtx.Client().CoreV1().Namespaces().Create(tCtx, &v1.Namespace{ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{Name: namespace}}, metav1.CreateOptions{})
 		if err != nil {
-			tCtx.Fatalf("failed to create namespace for Pod: %v", namespace)
+			return fmt.Errorf("failed to create namespace for Pod: %v", namespace)
 		}
 		(*podsPerNamespace)[namespace] = 0
 	}
+	return nil
 }
 
 type testDataCollector interface {