![]() | |
Founded | 1883 |
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Ground | Kingsmeadow Athletics Stadium |
Location | Kingston Road, KT1 3PB |
Coordinates | 51°24′17″N0°17′02″W / 51.40472°N 0.28389°W |
Website | kingstonandpoly |
The Kingston Athletic Club and Polytechnic Harriers or Kingston & Poly AC for short is an athletic club based in Kingston upon Thames in England.
The club was founded by philanthropist Quintin Hogg in 1883, and they were known for four years as the Hanover United AC, and were the athletics arm of Quintin Hogg's Regent Street Polytechnic. [1] The Polytechnic Harriers were based at the Chiswick track and their history with racing events predated "the Poly" since they oversaw walking races from London to Brighton as far back as 1897. [2] [3]
The club has long ties to what is now the London Marathon. In 1908 they oversaw the opening and closing ceremonies for the 1908 Olympics, the Game's marathon, and played a large part in the development of the Polytechnic Marathon, which ran from 1909- 1996. [4] [5] [6] [7]
In 1920, Harry Edward became Great Britain's first Black medalist at the Olympic Games. [8]
In 1985 The Polytechnic Harriers merged with The Royal Borough of Kingston AC, a women's club that evolved from Surrey AC, to become the Kingston AC and Polytechnic Harriers (Kingston & Poly). The Polytechnic's Kinnaird and Sward Trophies are still contested annually at Kingston & Poly's home track, which was originally constructed as a cinder track in 1961 [9] and is adjacent to the football stadium at Kingsmeadow. The Polytechnic Marathon is no longer held, having been superseded by the London Marathon. Kingston & Poly's men now compete nationally in the British Athletics League and, at area level, the men and women operate jointly in the Southern Athletics League, although they were relegated to lesser divisions in 2016. [10]
Athlete | Club | Games | Medals/Ref |
---|---|---|---|
Henry Barrett | Polytechnic Harriers | 1908, 1912 | |
Jack Butler | Polytechnic Harriers | 1908 | |
George Nicol | Polytechnic Harriers | 1908, 1912 | ![]() |
James Barrett | Polytechnic Harriers | 1908 | |
Michael Collins | Polytechnic Harriers | 1908 | |
Charlie Davies | Polytechnic Harriers | 1908 | |
Oswald Groenings | Polytechnic Harriers | 1908 | |
George Hawkins | Polytechnic Harriers | 1908 | |
Guy Holdaway | Polytechnic Harriers | 1908 | |
Georg Lind | Polytechnic Harriers | 1908 | |
Henry Murray | Polytechnic Harriers | 1908 | |
Edward Spencer | Polytechnic Harriers | 1908 | ![]() |
Jimmy Tremeer | Polytechnic Harriers | 1908 | ![]() |
Timothy Carroll | Polytechnic Harriers | 1912, 1920 | |
Willie Applegarth | Polytechnic Harriers | 1912 | ![]() ![]() |
James Barker | Polytechnic Harriers | 1912 | |
Victor d'Arcy | Polytechnic Harriers | 1912 | ![]() |
Percy Mann | Polytechnic Harriers | 1912 | |
Douglas McNicol | Polytechnic Harriers | 1912 | |
Clive Taylor | Polytechnic Harriers | 1912 | |
Arthur Treble | Polytechnic Harriers | 1912 | |
Larry Cummins | Polytechnic Harriers | 1920 | ![]() |
Harry Edward | Polytechnic Harriers | 1920 | ![]() ![]() |
Albert Hill | Polytechnic Harriers | 1920 | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Eric Robertson | Polytechnic Harriers | 1920 | |
Guy Brockington | Polytechnic Harriers | 1924 | |
Fred Gaby | Polytechnic Harriers | 1924, 1928 | |
John Odde | Polytechnic Harriers | 1924 | |
Richard Ripley | Polytechnic Harriers | 1924 | ![]() |
Frederick Chauncy | Polytechnic Harriers | 1928 | |
Cyril Gill | Polytechnic Harriers | 1928 | ![]() |
Jack London | Polytechnic Harriers | 1928 | ![]() ![]() |
Arthur Muggridge | Polytechnic Harriers | 1928 | |
Lorna Frampton | Polytechnic Harriers | 1936 | |
Bert Norris | Polytechnic Harriers | 1936 | |
Aubrey Reeve | Polytechnic Harriers | 1936 | |
Stan West | Polytechnic Harriers | 1936 | |
McDonald Bailey | Polytechnic Harriers | 1948, 1952 | ![]() |
Paul Crosfield | Polytechnic Harriers | 1948 | |
Charles Denroche | Polytechnic Harriers | 1948 | |
Rene Howell | Polytechnic Harriers | 1948 | |
Stan Jones | Polytechnic Harriers | 1948 | |
Leslie Laing | Polytechnic Harriers | 1948, 1952 | ![]() |
Ron Pavitt | Polytechnic Harriers | 1948, 1952 | |
Martin Pike | Polytechnic Harriers | 1948 | |
Doug Wilson| | Polytechnic Harriers | 1948 | |
Arthur Wint | Polytechnic Harriers | 1948, 1952 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Peter Hildreth | Polytechnic Harriers | 1952, 1956, 1960 | |
Brian Shenton | Polytechnic Harriers | 1952, 1956 | |
Jeannette Bailey | Polytechnic Harriers | 1960 | |
Tim Graham | Polytechnic Harriers | 1964 | |
Colin Campbell | Polytechnic Harriers | 1968, 1972, 1976 | |
Alan Pascoe | Polytechnic Harriers | 1968, 1972, 1976 |
The Club's archives are still held at the University of Westminster. [12]