A Proud Heritage of Developing Athletes

Leeds City Athletic Club has a proud heritage of developing athletes from all ages, genders and abilities from the local community and beyond. Please explore each category to find out more about how we are inspiring athletes across all disciplines.

The Leeds City Wheelchair Racing Group has been in existence at Leeds City Athletic Club since 2004 and caters for all levels of ability.

We now have enough chairs to cater for anyone who would like to come and try wheelchair racing and to assist in their development. This is a fantastic resource to support disabled sports people of all ages and abilities to have a go at this amazing sport.

We are proud to have trained athletes in this group such as; the Paralympic, World and European Champion Hannah Cockroft MBE and the World Championship bronze medalist Georgina Oliver.

We also have supported athletes who have transferred across to Para-Triathlon.
Currently training in the group we have; Nick Smith, the British Record holder for the T52 100m, and Matthew Hickling the previous GB Junior World Championships medallist.

The group train every Thursday evenings from 18:45 to 20:00.

For anyone interested in joining the Wheelchair Racing group, please contact Paul Moseley (email: paul.moseley@outlook.com) to discuss.

Our competing athletes, range from our under-11 boys’ & girls’ (Leeds Lions); through each age range right the way through to the Veterans’ team.

We train and compete in sprints, middle distance, throwing, jumping, and hurdles. Our U13/U15 teams compete in the North Premier East division of the Youth Development League (YDL) lower.

Our U17/U20 teams compete in the North  East first division of the Youth Development League (YDL) Upper. Our senior team competes in division 2 of the North of England Track & field League.

The club has an excellent, experienced coaching system. For more details of our coaching structure please see the Coaching Structure page

We meet every TUESDAY & THURSDAY from 6.00 – 9.00 p.m.

Check out our Men’s & Boys club rankings HERE

Check out our Ladies & Girls club rankings HERE

Leeds City Harriers form the road and cross country division of the club and we welcome athletes of all abilities.

We compete in the National & Northern Road and Cross Country Relays and regularly field several teams, covering a range of abilities. We are past National and Northern Champions in these events and we are the reigning Champions in the Women’s Northern 4 stage and 6 Stage Road Relay Championships.

We are also strong competitors in the Yorkshire Cross Country, Northern Cross Country and National Cross Country Championships and can count past medal winners and champions within our current members. We are the reigning Men & Women’s Yorkshire Cross Country Champions, the Women’s Northern Cross Country Champions and the Men’s National Cross Country Relay Champions.

Many of our members have competed at International level and our men’s team will compete in the prestigious European Clubs Cross Country Championships in early 2019.

For those that want to stay closer to home or compete at a slightly lower level, we also take part in the West Yorkshire Cross Country League.

These competitions provide many opportunities throughout the year to participate in road and cross country events, both as an individual and as part of a team. They are also an opportunity to get to know other athletes in the club and we even have the odd post-race social event.

We train on Tuesday and Thursday and have two senior groups to cater to different abilities.

‘Improvers group’

A Leeds City endurance training group meets every Tuesday evening at 6.15pm for runners who are already running regularly, but who want to take that step into racing or who are looking to improve their times.

If you run between 40 and 50 mins for 10k, or 20 and 25 mins for 5k this would be the perfect group for you!

Doing a mix of road, track and hill sessions it is a friendly group who like to enter a range of club and local races, on the track, road and cross country.

‘Beginners Group’

From September 2019, Leeds City Athletic Club will be offering an adults beginners endurance running group for runners who can already run 5k and want to improve their running. The group will meet on Thursdays and do a mix of road, track and hill sessions – please note; your current 5k time is not an issue.

For more information on how to join us please complete the enquiry form on the home page.

Our competing junior athletes start from our under-11 boys & girls (Leeds Lions); through each age range to the U20 boys & girls.

We compete in track & field (sprints, middle distance, throwing, jumping, and hurdles) as well as cross country, road running, fell/hill running and race walking.

Our U13/U15 teams compete in the Northern Premier 1 division of the Youth Development League (YDL) lower and our U17/U20 teams compete in the Northern Premier 2 division of the Youth Development League (YDL) Upper.

We meet every TUESDAY & THURSDAY. We hire the facility between 5.30pm and 8.30pm and these groups start at different times within that window.

Check out our Men’s & Boys club rankings HERE

Check out our Ladies & Girls club rankings HERE

Leeds City Harriers form the road and cross country division of the club and we welcome athletes of all abilities.

We compete in the National & Northern Road and Cross Country Relays and regularly field several teams, covering a range of abilities. We are past National and Northern Champions in these events and we are the reigning Champions in the Women’s Northern 4 stage and 6 Stage Road Relay Championships.

We are also strong competitors in the Yorkshire Cross Country, Northern Cross Country and National Cross Country Championships and can count past medal winners and champions within our current members. We are the reigning Men & Women’s Yorkshire Cross Country Champions, the Women’s Northern Cross Country Champions and the Men’s National Cross Country Relay Champions.

Many of our members have competed at International level and our men’s team will compete in the prestigious European Clubs Cross Country Championships in early 2019.

For those that want to stay closer to home or compete at a slightly lower level, we also take part in the West Yorkshire Cross Country League.

These competitions provide many opportunities throughout the year to participate in road and cross country events, both as an individual and as part of a team. They are also an opportunity to get to know other athletes in the club and we even have the odd post-race social event.

We train on Tuesday and Thursday and have two senior groups to cater to different abilities.

We’ve got Pro Athletes too ….

Tony has broken more records than it is possible to keep track of, including smashing the British M85 (85+ years of age) 200 metres best by running 36.67 in 2021.

It carved an incredible 4.5 seconds off a record which had stood for 49 years and was a full seven seconds faster than the time Tony ran when winning the British M80 indoor title a year earlier. 

A multiple World and European masters champion over the 60 and 80 metres hurdles, Tony really does seem to get better with age.

Tony Bowman

Tony has broken more records than it is possible to keep track of, including smashing the British M85 (85+ years of age) 200 metres best by running 36.67 in 2021.

It carved an incredible 4.5 seconds off a record which had stood for 49 years and was a full seven seconds faster than the time Tony ran when winning the British M80 indoor title a year earlier.

A multiple World and European masters champion over the 60 and 80 metres hurdles, Tony really does seem to get better with age.

A prodigious talent since childhood, Ethan continues to break records as he edges towards the senior ranks.

In a young career littered with achievements Ethan made his biggest mark yet by winning an 800 metres bronze medal at the World Junior Championships in Colombia in 2022, an event he also placed sixth at in the 1500.

The strength of his 800m performance is further underlined by the fact his personal best of 1:46.61 makes him the sixth fastest British under-20 of all time.

Ethan Hussey

A prodigious talent since childhood, Ethan continues to break records as he edges towards the senior ranks.

In a young career littered with achievements Ethan made his biggest mark yet by winning an 800 metres bronze medal at the World Junior Championships in Colombia in 2022, an event he also placed sixth at in the 1500.

The strength of his 800m performance is further underlined by the fact his personal best of 1:46.61 makes him the sixth fastest British under-20 of all time.

Phil became a national celebrity in October 2021 when he finished seventh on his London Marathon debut.

But it was not his superb time of 2 hours 12 minutes, enough to secure selection for Great Britain at the 2022 European Championships, that caught the national media’s attention.

Combining his training with life as a junior doctor and the use of his two spaniels as his primary training partners was enough to capture the public’s imagination as Phil did the rounds on breakfast TV and became an overnight social media influencer.

Phil Sesemann

Phil became a national celebrity in October 2021 when he finished seventh on his London Marathon debut.

But it was not his superb time of 2 hours 12 minutes, enough to secure selection for Great Britain at the 2022 European Championships, that caught the national media’s attention.

Combining his training with life as a junior doctor and the use of his two spaniels as his primary training partners was enough to capture the public’s imagination as Phil did the rounds on breakfast TV and became an overnight social media influencer.

Emile made headlines in January 2022 by running 27:44 at the Valencia 10k, equalling the British record held by a certain Sir Mo Farah.

Fifth at the 2021 Great North Run, a half marathon personal best of 61:16 and an 11th-placed finish in the 10,000m at the 2022 European Championships are just a few of Emile’s other noteworthy achievements.

He has also played a key role in the club’s hugely successful men’s cross country and road running teams, twice finishing second individually at the National Cross Country Championships (2019, 2022).

Emile Cairess

Emile made headlines in January 2022 by running 27:44 at the Valencia 10k, equalling the British record held by a certain Sir Mo Farah.

Fifth at the 2021 Great North Run, a half marathon personal best of 61:16 and an 11th-placed finish in the 10,000m at the 2022 European Championships are just a few of Emile’s other noteworthy achievements.

He has also played a key role in the club’s hugely successful men’s cross country and road running teams, twice finishing second individually at the National Cross Country Championships (2019, 2022).

Born in Italy to Moroccan parents but raised in Leeds, Ossama was rather spoilt for choice when it came to choosing who he would represent internationally. 

He settled on the country of his birth and has not looked back, breaking the Italian indoor 1500 metres record by running 3:37.29 in Birmingham in February 2022.

Ossama followed that up by winning his outdoor national championships and recording a personal beat of 3:36.04 to secure selection for the 2022 European Championships in Munich.

Ossama Meslek

Born in Italy to Moroccan parents but raised in Leeds, Ossama was rather spoilt for choice when it came to choosing who he would represent internationally.

He settled on the country of his birth and has not looked back, breaking the Italian indoor 1500 metres record by running 3:37.29 in Birmingham in February 2022.

Ossama followed that up by winning his outdoor national championships and recording a personal beat of 3:36.04 to secure selection for the 2022 European Championships in Munich.

One of the fastest men in the country, Joe’s personal bests stand at 10.25 and 20.23 for the 100 and 200 metres respectively.

His best time for the latter secured a silver medal at the 2022 UK Championships and as a consequence saw him selected for the Great Britain team at that year’s World Championships in Eugene, USA.

It is all the more impressive given that 2023 will be Joe’s first year as a fully-fledged senior athlete.

Joe Ferguson

One of the fastest men in the country, Joe’s personal bests stand at 10.25 and 20.23 for the 100 and 200 metres respectively.

His best time for the latter secured a silver medal at the 2022 UK Championships and as a consequence saw him selected for the Great Britain team at that year’s World Championships in Eugene, USA.

It is all the more impressive given that 2023 will be Joe’s first year as a fully-fledged senior athlete.

Jacob has consistently been one of the best long jumpers in the country since joining Leeds City at the age of 13. Having regularly represented Great Britain through the age groups (including European U/20 silver medallist;( and following a spell training and studying at Oklahoma State University, he is now a full senior international. A hugely impressive 2022 European Championships in Munich saw Jacob place fifth, narrowly missing out on a medal when a successful French protest resulted in one of his jumps being retrospectively ruled as a foul.

Jacob Fincham-Dukes

Jacob has consistently been one of the best long jumpers in the country since joining Leeds City at the age of 13. Having regularly represented Great Britain through the age groups (including European U/20 silver medallist;( and following a spell training and studying at Oklahoma State University, he is now a full senior international. A hugely impressive 2022 European Championships in Munich saw Jacob place fifth, narrowly missing out on a medal when a successful French protest resulted in one of his jumps being retrospectively ruled as a foul.

Hannah is both Great Britain’s most successful and one of the world’s most well-known para-athletes.
Dominating T34 wheelchair racing from 100 to 800 metres for more than a decade, Hannah has won seven Paralympic gold medals, 12 IPC world titles and broken too many world records to keep track of.

Named an OBE for services to athletics in the 2022 New Year Honours list, Hannah’s celebrity goes far beyond sport having appeared on primetime TV shows such as The Great British Bake Off and Strictly Come Dancing.

Hannah Cockroft MBE

Hannah is both Great Britain’s most successful and one of the world’s most well-known para-athletes.
Dominating T34 wheelchair racing from 100 to 800 metres for more than a decade, Hannah has won seven Paralympic gold medals, 12 IPC world titles and broken too many world records to keep track of.

Named an OBE for services to athletics in the 2022 New Year Honours list, Hannah’s celebrity goes far beyond sport having appeared on primetime TV shows such as The Great British Bake Off and Strictly Come Dancing.