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 a ...

and cross-country club based in Petersham,

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

, 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 London's Royal Parks, and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I in the 17th century as a deer pa ...

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

ultramarathon An ultramarathon, also called ultra distance or ultra running, is any footrace longer than the traditional marathon length of . Various distances are raced competitively, from the shortest common ultramarathon of to over . 50k and 100k are bot ...

s on a variety of terrains, and in the Surrey 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 4 ...

, and the earliest recorded runs were out to the

Windmill A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called sails or blades, specifically to mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and other applications, in so ...

Wimbledon Common 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 460 ...

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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, 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 in the state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 1,062,061, increasing by 9.3% from 2010. The county seat and largest municipality is Rockville, although the census-design ...

(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 walkers, runners and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across six continents. Junior Parkrun (stylised as junior p ...

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, 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 and golf. Despite the ...

Notable members

Notable members include: *

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

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

London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held ...

John Disley John Ivor Disley CBE (20 November 1928 – 8 February 2016) was a Welsh athlete. He competed mainly in the 3000 metres steeplechase before co-founding the London Marathon and becoming active in sports promotion and administration. He was born in ...

(1928–2016), athlete and co-founder of the London Marathon *

Hugh Jones Hugh Jones may refer to: *Hugh Jones (bishop) (1508–1574), bishop of Llandaff *Hugh Jones (archdeacon of St Asaph) (c. 1816–1897), British religious leader *Hugh Jones (archdeacon of Essex) (1783–1869), Welsh churchman *Hugh Jones (runner) (b ...

(born 1955), the first Welshman to win the London Marathon * Bill Neely (born 1959), journalist *

Paul Sinton-Hewitt Peter Paul Sinton-Hewitt CBE FRSA (Born 1960) is the founder of Parkrun. He was appointed a CBE "for services to Grassroots Sport Participation" in 2014, and was selected as an Ashoka Fellow in 2016. In December 2019, he was awarded the Albert ...

(born 1960), founder of

parkrun Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of 5K run, events for walkers, runners and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across six continents. Junior Parkrun (stylised as junior p ...

Ed Whitlock Ed Whitlock (March 6, 1931 – March 13, 2017) was an English-born Canadian long-distance runner, and the first person over 70 years old to run a marathon in less than three hours, with a time of 2:59:10 in 2003. Whitlock, who ran as a teenag ...

(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 in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance running comes two d ...

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 established in 1881