Ranelagh Harriers is a road running and cross-country club based in Petersham, Richmond, south-west London, England. The headquarters are its clubhouse behind the Dysart Arms pub and right next to Richmond Park, allowing plenty of opportunity for off-road running. Ranelagh athletes compete in many events from the 5k to ultramarathons on a variety of terrains, and in the Surrey Road League and Surrey Cross Country League.
Ranelagh Harriers was founded in 1881, and so is one of the oldest athletics clubs in the U.K. It was one of the founder members of the English Cross Country Union, in 1883, and is now one of only eleven of those founder members still in existence. The club's first home was at the Green Man on Putney Heath, and the earliest recorded runs were out to the Windmill on Wimbledon Common and back. Re-development forced the club to look for a new home during the mid-1930s, and a suitable site was found in an old pavilion at the back of the Dysart Arms, right on the edge of Richmond Park. New courses were quickly devised in the park and the club settled in, only for activities to be interrupted by the Second World War, when the park was closed for the duration of the war.[citation needed]
Post-war[]
The end of hostilities brought a period of struggle for survival for Ranelagh.[clarification needed] By the mid-1950s things were on the upturn, and the club started to look at improving its accommodation at the Dysart. In 1967, a new pre-fabricated dressing room was erected, though the old ramshackle bath-house was still in use. After further years of fund-raising, the new purpose-built clubhouse was finally opened in 1988 and the process was completed in 1995 with the purchase of the land on which the clubhouse stands - giving Ranelagh security of tenure in perpetuity. Ranelagh has a sister organization, the Montgomery County Road Runners Club (MCRRC), in Montgomery County, Maryland (near Washington, D.C.); its members have full reciprocal membership privileges when visiting the MCRRC.[citation needed]
Competitions[]
Ranelagh Harriers hosts two events as part of the Surrey Road League, the Ranelagh Richmond 10k and the Richmond Half Marathon.
Members of Ranelagh Harriers currently help to organize two runs in the 5k Parkrun family, held every Saturday morning at 9:00am; the 1-lap event in Richmond Park, and a 3-lap run at Old Deer Park.
Team Honours[]
Men's[]
South of Thames 5
2001
Surrey League Cross Country Division Two
2006, 2011
Surrey Road League
2002, 2003
Surrey 5K
1996, 2003
Surrey 10K
1997, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004
Surrey 10 Miles
2002, 2006
Surrey Half Marathon
1995, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006
Surrey 20 Miles
1964, 1968, 1970, 1981, 1998
Ladies[]
Surrey Cross Country
2005, 2006
Surrey League Cross Country Division One
2005, 2006, 2008
South of Thames 7
2004, 2005
South of Thames 5
2005
Surrey Road Relays
2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
Surrey Road League
2002, 2005, 2006
Surrey 5K
1992, 1997, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006
Surrey 10K
1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
Surrey 10 Miles
2005
Surrey Half Marathon
2000, 2003, 2004, 2006
Individual Honours[]
Men's[]
AAA Marathon
Hugh Jones (1981, 1986, 1987)
Scottish Marathon
Ian Macintosh (1978)
Swedish Marathon
Chris Wade (1968, 1969)
Inter Counties Cross Country
C.S. Sydenham (1897)
Southern Counties Cross Country
Sid Thomas (1888, 1889)
South of England 10 Miles
Hugh Jones (1976)
South of England 20 Miles
David Wright (1985)
South of England Marathon
Hugh Jones (1982)
South of Thames 5
Dave Benton (1997), W.P. Bird (1957), Jim Langford (1976)
Surrey Cross Country County Representative
Phil Killingley (2006)
Cheshire Cross Country County Representative
Duncan Bell (2006)
Surrey Junior Cross Country County Representative
Sam Perkins (2007)
Surrey Cross Country
M. Little (1980), A.C. Stansbury (1929)
Surrey Vets Cross Country
Paul Doyle (2006, 2007)
Surrey Junior Cross County
Sam Perkins (2007)
BUSA Cross Country 'B' Race
Sam Perkins (2007)
Surrey Road League
Paul Doyle (2003, 2004, 2005)
Surrey 10K
Dave Benton (1999), Paul Doyle (2004, 2005)
Surrey Half Marathon
Dave Benton (2000), Paul Doyle (2004), Phil Killingley(2006), Darryl McDonald (2001, 2003)
Ladies[]
WAAA Marathon
Priscilla Welsh (1984, 1987)
Surrey Cross Country County Representatives
Jo Ronaldson (2006, 2007), Anna Scally (2006, 2007), Marie Synnott-Wells (2006)
South of Thames 5
Marie Synnott-Wells (2005)
South of Thames 7
Sarah Smith (2004), Jo Ronaldson (2005)
Surrey Road League
Liz Kipling (2002, 2004), Anna Scally (2005)
Surrey 5k Champion
Liz Kipling (2002), Jo Ronaldson (2005, 2006)
Surrey 10k Champion
Jo Ronaldson (2006), Sarah Smith (2003)
Surrey 10 Miles
Sarah Smith (2003), Marie Synnott-Wells (2005)
Surrey Half Marathon
Linda Cartwright (2000), Emily Church (2003), Marie Synnott-Wells (2005, 2006)