Ranelagh Harriers is a road running

Road running

Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road . These events would be classified as long distance according to athletics terminology, with distances typically ranging from 5 kilometers to 42.2 kilometers in the marathon. They may involve large numbers of runners...

 and cross-country

Cross country running

Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...

 club based in Richmond, south-west London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. The headquarters are its clubhouse behind the Dysart Arms pub and right next to Richmond Park

Richmond Park

Richmond Park is a 2,360 acre park within London. It is the largest of the Royal Parks in London and Britain's second largest urban walled park after Sutton Park, Birmingham. It is close to Richmond, Ham, Kingston upon Thames, Wimbledon, Roehampton and East Sheen...

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

Ultramarathon

An ultramarathon is any sporting event involving running longer than the traditional marathon length of .There are two types of ultramarathon events: those that cover a specified distance, and events that take place during specified time...

s on a variety of terrains, and in the Surrey

Surrey

Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

 Road League and 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, and the earliest recorded runs were out to the Windmill

Windmill

A windmill is a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Originally windmills were developed for milling grain for food production. In the course of history the windmill was adapted to many other industrial uses. An important...

 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 even those still at home were unable to use the park, which was closed for the duration of the war.

Post-war

The end of hostilities brought a period of struggle for survival for Ranelagh, but by the mid-1950s things were on the upturn again, 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 Maryland near Washington, DC. Ranelagh 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 organize two races in the 5k parkrun

Parkrun

parkrun is the name given to a collection of 5 km running events that take place every week in several different countries. They are free to take part in and require runners to register on-line for a unique athlete number and to print their own identification barcode before taking part.parkrun...

 family, held every Saturday morning at 9:00am; the 1-lap event in Richmond Park

Richmond Park

Richmond Park is a 2,360 acre park within London. It is the largest of the Royal Parks in London and Britain's second largest urban walled park after Sutton Park, Birmingham. It is close to Richmond, Ham, Kingston upon Thames, Wimbledon, Roehampton and East Sheen...

, and a 3-lap race at Old Deer Park

Old Deer Park

Old Deer Park is an area of open space within Richmond-upon-Thames, England, and is in extent. The park is bounded generally by the River Thames to the west, Kew Gardens to the north, and urban areas of Richmond town to the east and south. Owned by the Crown Estate, the park forms part of a larger...

.

Men's

• South of Thames 5
  • 2001
• Surrey League Cross Country Division Two
  • 2006
• 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

Men's

• AAA Marathon
  • Hugh Jones
    Hugh Jones
    Hugh Jones is a British record producer with many important post-punk albums to his credit.-Career:Jones made a name early in the 1980s with a jangly sound that aged better than many of his contemporaries' production styles, however he started out as lead singer in the band Mistral in the early...
    
     (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
    Hugh Jones
    Hugh Jones is a British record producer with many important post-punk albums to his credit.-Career:Jones made a name early in the 1980s with a jangly sound that aged better than many of his contemporaries' production styles, however he started out as lead singer in the band Mistral in the early...
    
     (1976)
• South of England 20 Miles
  • David Wright (1985)
• South of England Marathon
  • Hugh Jones
    Hugh Jones
    Hugh Jones is a British record producer with many important post-punk albums to his credit.-Career:Jones made a name early in the 1980s with a jangly sound that aged better than many of his contemporaries' production styles, however he started out as lead singer in the band Mistral in the early...
    
     (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)

Club Records

• Men's 10K

  Name	Time	Date
  Hugh Jones Hugh Jones Hugh Jones is a British record producer with many important post-punk albums to his credit.-Career:Jones made a name early in the 1980s with a jangly sound that aged better than many of his contemporaries' production styles, however he started out as lead singer in the band Mistral in the early...	29.39	Feb 1984
  Malcolm East	30.08	Nov 1989
  Vince Scammell	30.13	Feb 1989
  Simon Collingridge	30.46	Apr 1986
  Mike Riley	30.54	Jun 1989

• Women's 10K

  Name	Time	Date
  Priscilla Welch	32.25	Mar 1985
  Jo Ronaldson	34.39	Mar 2007
  Allison O'Neill	35.32	Sep 2004
  Anna Scally	36.28	Mar 2006
  Lauren Shelley	36.31	Nov 2004

• Men's 10 Miles

  Name	Time	Date
  Hugh Jones Hugh Jones Hugh Jones is a British record producer with many important post-punk albums to his credit.-Career:Jones made a name early in the 1980s with a jangly sound that aged better than many of his contemporaries' production styles, however he started out as lead singer in the band Mistral in the early...	47.20	Mar 1977
  Russell Foley	48.30	Jan 1991
  Jim Langford	49.07	Jan 1977
  Ian Macintosh	49.11	May 1968
  Tim Woods	49.18	May 1977

• Women's 10 Miles

  Name	Time	Date
  Priscilla Welch	56.49	Sep 1986
  Caroline Brady	58.55	Jan 1986
  Margaret Auerback	60.29	Nov 1989
  Hilary Pratt	60.39	Jan 1985
  Carolyn Oxton	60.58	Oct 1986

• Men's Half Marathon

  Name	Time	Date
  Hugh Jones Hugh Jones Hugh Jones is a British record producer with many important post-punk albums to his credit.-Career:Jones made a name early in the 1980s with a jangly sound that aged better than many of his contemporaries' production styles, however he started out as lead singer in the band Mistral in the early...	62.41	Apr 1987
  Ian Beauchamp	65.50	Aug 1985
  Neil Ryan	66.45	Jul 1970
  Ian Macintosh	67.08	Jul 1968
  Jim Murphy	67.24	May 1981

• Women's Half Marathon

  Name	Time	Date
  Priscilla Welch	71.04	Sep 1984
  Lauren Shelley	74.36	Oct 2005
  Jo Ronaldson	78.24	Mar 2007
  Margaret Auerback	78.30	Mar 1986
  Caroline Brady	78.31	May 1987

• Men's Marathon

  Name	Time	Date
  Hugh Jones Hugh Jones Hugh Jones is a British record producer with many important post-punk albums to his credit.-Career:Jones made a name early in the 1980s with a jangly sound that aged better than many of his contemporaries' production styles, however he started out as lead singer in the band Mistral in the early...	2.09.24	May 1982
  Malcolm East	2.11.35	Apr 1981
  Ian Beauchamp	2.17.22	Sep 1985
  Chris Wade	2.17.42	Jun 1969
  Mike Dalton	2.18.41	Apr 1990

• Women's Marathon

  Name	Time	Date
  Priscilla Welch	2.26.50	May 1987
  Lauren Shelley	2.33.42	Nov 2005
  Margaret Auerback	2.48.40	Apr 1986
  Caroline Brady	2.54.40	Apr 1988
  Nicole Docker	2.58.38	Apr 1997

External links

• Ranelagh-Harriers.com - 'Ranelagh Harriers, Richmond's Running Club'
• http://www.parkrun.com/ - 'UK Time Trials'