Ranelagh Harriers is a

road running Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain. These events are usually classified as long-distance ru ...

and cross-country club based in Petersham,

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

, south-west London, England. The headquarters are its clubhouse, which is behind The Dysart restaurant and right next to

Richmond Park Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is the largest of Royal Parks of London, London's Royal Parks and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I of England, Cha ...

, allowing plenty of opportunity for off-road running. Ranelagh athletes compete in many events from the 5k to

ultramarathon An ultramarathon is a footrace longer than the traditional marathon distance of . The sport of running ultramarathons is called ultra running or ultra distance running. Various distances, surfaces, and formats are raced competitively, from the ...

s on a variety of terrains, and in the

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

Road League and the Surrey Cross Country League.

The early days

Ranelagh Harriers was founded in 1881, and so is one of the oldest athletics clubs in the United Kingdom. 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 Wimbledon Common is a large open space in Wimbledon, southwest London. There are three named areas: Wimbledon Common, Putney Heath, and Putney Lower Common, which together are managed under the name Wimbledon and Putney Commons totalling 46 ...

, and the earliest recorded runs were out to the

Windmill A windmill is a machine operated by the force of wind acting on vanes or sails to mill grain (gristmills), pump water, generate electricity, or drive other machinery. Windmills were used throughout the high medieval and early modern period ...

Wimbledon Common Wimbledon Common is a large open space in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, southwest London. There are three named areas: Wimbledon Common, Putney Heath, and Putney Lower Common, which together are managed under the name Wimbledon and Putney Co ...

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 World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, when the park was closed for the duration of the war.

Post-war

The end of hostilities brought a period of struggle for survival for Ranelagh. 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 organisation, the Montgomery County Road Runners Club (MCRRC), in

Montgomery County, Maryland Montgomery County is the most populous County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, the county's population was 1,062,061, increasing by 9.3% from 2010. The county seat is Rockville, Maryland ...

(near Washington, D.C.); its members have full reciprocal membership privileges when visiting the MCRRC.

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 organise two runs in the 5k

Parkrun Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of 5K run, events for runners, walkers and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across five continents. Parkrun was founded by Paul Sinto ...

family, held every Saturday morning at 9:00am; the one-lap event in

, and a three-lap run at

Old Deer Park Old Deer Park is an area of open space within Richmond, London, Richmond, owned by the Crown Estate, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England. It covers of which are leased as sports grounds for sports, particularly rugby, gol ...

Notable members

Notable members include: *

Chris Brasher Christopher William Brasher CBE (21 August 1928 – 28 February 2003) was a British track and field athlete, Olympic champion, sports journalist and co-founder of the London Marathon. Early life and education Born in Georgetown, British Gui ...

(1928–2003), track and field athlete, sports journalist and co-founder of the

London Marathon The London Marathon (also known as the TCS London Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon held in London, England. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held in April, although it moved to Oct ...

* John Disley (1928–2016), athlete and co-founder of the London Marathon * Hugh Jones (born 1955), the first Welshman to win the London Marathon * Bill Neely (born 1959), journalist *

Paul Sinton-Hewitt Peter Paul Sinton-Hewitt CBE (born 1960) is the founder of parkrun. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) "for services to Grassroots Sport Participation" in the 2014 Birthday Honours, and was selected as an Ash ...

(born 1960), founder of

parkrun Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of 5K run, events for runners, walkers and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across five continents. Parkrun was founded by Paul Sinto ...

* Ed Whitlock (1931–2017), Canadian

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance ru ...

External links

Official website

References

{{reflist 1881 establishments in England Petersham, London Richmond Park Running clubs in the United Kingdom Sport in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Sports clubs and teams established in 1881