On Saturday, Rory Leonard will compete at his first World Cross Country Championships in seven years. It may also be his last day as the British Record holder for 10k (for now). Rory spoke to James Rhodes from Tallahassee, happily avoiding the British cold snap for a second consecutive year.

It is hard to believe the World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus were seven years ago, yet they were. It was where Rory Leonard made his international debut for Great Britain in the U20 race. Fast forward to 2026, and a senior world debut awaits in Tallahassee.

In a way, it is a full circle moment for Rory. The Florida city was home to another debut; his first NCAA Championships in November 2021 whilst at Oklahoma State University. Then, it was the best at collegiate level he was lining up against. This time, it’s the best in the world.

“I’m looking forward to it. I’ve run on the course before, so I’m quite excited to be back. Right now, I’m just getting over the flight. I’m happy that I’ve come out a little bit earlier because I think coming out a couple days before can be tough.

I’m really excited for it. It’s my first senior world championships, which is really cool and why I thought it would be a great opportunity to come and do it. So rarely is a World Cross held in in January. It’s just the perfect time of year really to come out and do it. You get to see people from around the world who you literally never get to see until a World Champs. There’s people from places like New Zealand who don’t race in Europe, so it’s exciting”.

Bouncing Back

Less than a month ago, Rory competed at the European Cross Country Championships in Lagoa. His expectations were high after finishing second at the trial race in Sefton Park, behind Team Makou teammate Scott Beattie. However, a late-in-the-day knee injury impacted him in the race where he finished seventeenth.

“Well, I’ve got two operating legs now! The knee thing in Portugal cropped up so late in in the build-up, it was almost laughable. I haven’t spoken loads about exactly how it happened, and I probably won’t for a little bit, but it was a nightmare.

In the build up to the Europeans I saw my physio a couple of times. We tried but we just couldn’t quite get things right. The part of my knee that was really sore led to a chain reaction of different things on that left leg. Since then, we’ve been able to iron everything out which has been amazing. Now, I’m feeling a lot better about my actual biomechanics going in [to the race].

I’m quite happy with this course. I know there’s some weird things thrown into it, but less so than that European Cross course, which was insane! The ups, downs and corners, plus going jumps after a 600m hill. I was like, ok, whoever has designed this course has designed for it to hurt”.

Knowing What to Expect

Cross country races in the US are, generally, rather different to what we’re more used at home. Rory’s experience of racing whilst at Oklahoma State University provides useful context on what to expect from the course. What to expect in the race itself, however, is less known.

“It gives you the opportunity to have a bit of rhythm running. I think what I enjoyed the most about the US cross races was that you had long courses with no real sharp corners. You could just be in a real rhythm. I think that suits my running efficiency, which I’d say is why I tend to run a bit better on the road.

Expectation wise, it’s quite hard to say because you don’t know exactly who’s going to be here. I know the Spanish are strong, the French are very strong. The Americans are very strong and the Australian team is pretty strong. I think I’ll know after the first sort of 200 metres, where the race is, where my race is. I’m quite excited to figure that out and go from there”.

A Strong British Team

Rory is joined by David Mullarkey, Matt Ramsden and Jacob Cann in the senior men’s race in Tallahassee. He speaks highly of all three.

“Me and David Mullarkey have been so similar over the years. I feel like I’ve maybe had a couple more lucky breaks than he has. A lot of his great running has been done while in the US, which is probably why he hasn’t had a lot of the kudos that he deserves. This is going to be quite a good opportunity for him to show on a world stage how good he is.

It’s cool having Matt [Ramsden] on the team, he’s got a good sense of humour. I think he maybe got snubbed for a selection last summer, and I had a chat with him after that.  At that age especially, you’re going to miss out on vests and it feels like the worst thing that’s ever happened to you. He’s plugged away and, before you know it, he’s come sixth in the U23s and been picked for a senior vest.

Jacob Cann as well, it’s great to have him on the team after we were both in Portugal. He’s another really good guy and it’s great for him to get some experience on the world stage”.

Photo: James Rhodes

An Easy Decision

Taking place one day after the World Cross Country Championships is the Valencia 10k. It is a race with special memories for Rory; at last year’s edition, he set a British Record of 27:38. The lure of a fast course, strong competition and kind conditions has tempted many British runners to the Spanish city. Rory, however, is not one of them. It was an easy decision.

“It was it was quite easy for me. This was a great opportunity to come out here and do something different. I love the Valencia 10k but it was a bit of a circus last year. It was so great to break the British Record, that was a great way to start the year.

This year, it might not be the best way to start the year. The only possible good day I could have is running the record again and being first Brit. If that is the only way you can walk out of a race and think, ‘that was a decent day’, I think you’re stacking things up quite high. I’d much rather go win it [the record] back in the future.

I said at the time that I think our British Record for 10k is further behind the French and a couple of other European countries. I think it would be great to be a part of a group knocking it down further and further. I want to come back to it at some point and knock it down a fair bit more.

So as bad as it sounds, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to lose it. I want to do more, I want to do different things. That was great, but that was then and this is now”.

Photo: James Rhodes

Team Competition

It is a different path to his training partner Scott Beattie. He has chosen the streets of Valencia in favour of automatic selection for Tallahassee. Both are coached by Andy Hobdell and are part of Hoka’s Team Makou. Scott, alongside Charles Wheeler, Hugo Milner, and many others, will be chasing a fast time. Rory will be supporting his friend, but equally hoping he returns to shorter distances for a fair while after.

“I’m massively rooting for Scott at the weekend, he’s due a good 10k. He’s had a couple of ropey years with the distance but there’s a good one in there. Once he does that one and gets the little mental breakthrough on it, that’ll be great. Ideally, he will stay down at 5k for the next couple of years at least! I’ll be rooting for him in the 5k, but no, it’ll be good to see him run well in Valencia.

If we can have a British Record battle in Team Makou that would be really cool! Let’s see”.

Other team members include Callum Elson, who joined Rory and Scott in Lagoa, Ellis Cross, Sarah Astin and India Weir. India makes her Great Britain debut in the mixed relay in Tallahassee.

Looking Beyond Tallahassee

Rory will stay in the United States after this weekend, where he will target fast times over 5000m and 10000m. The latter, an event in which he won the European U23 Championships in 2023, will be his focus this summer.

Photo: James Rhodes

First will be a return to Boston University’s famed indoor track, home to his 5000m PB (13:22.46) set last year. After, attention shifts to 25 laps of the track at Sound Running’s The TEN on Saturday 28 March. As Rory explains, there will be the intricate differences between how the ‘a’ and ‘b’ races may unfold. It gives him food for thought, luckily with ten-odd weeks until the race.

That race may unlock the time needed to help secure qualification for the bigger competitions in the summer. Both the European Championships in Birmingham and Commonwealth Games in Glasgow are on the radar. The qualifying standard is 27:50 for both, a time Rory has bettered on the track (27:38.39 in May 2024). Rory is already thinking about the time that may be needed to make the team.

“I’ve kind of worked out that, if all the possible names want to race the 10k at the European Championships or Commonwealth Games, in my head the minimum time that you’re going to have to run to make the team is about 27:30.

I definitely think that, as a realistic goal, you’ve got to run under 27:30. I ran 27:38 coming up to two years ago, so I should absolutely be looking for something around 27:20. The 10,000m is hard, though, you’ve got to get them right on the day”.

First though is Saturday. The senior men’s race takes place at 17:20 UK time on Saturday 10 January and will be shown by the BBC.

The full Great Britain team can be seen here.