South London Harriers

South London Harriers

Founded	1871
Location	194 Brighton Road, Coulsdon, London CR5 2NF, England
Coordinates	51°19′11″N0°08′22″W / 51.31972°N 0.13944°W / 51.31972; -0.13944
Website	official website

South London Harriers (SLH) is a British athletics club based in Coulsdon, South London, England. The club's headquarters are based at 194 Brighton Road but training and racing primarily takes place at the athletics track at Woodcote High School and on Farthing Downs. The club train on Tuesday and Thursday evenings but also run sessions at weekends that include events such as cross-country and triathlon. ^[1]

History

Racing Club de France versus South London Harriers, 31 May 1909, the start of the 1500 metres at Croix Catelan

Farthing Downs

Gordon Pirie

The club was founded on 27 December 1871 ^[2] at a meeting in the Vivian Arms in Peckham Rye, ^[3] with the first cross country race taking place on 13 January 1872 and the first track meeting held on 24 August 1872. ^[4]

The club experienced significant success at the English National Cross Country Championships with Herbert A Heath being the club's first winner of the event in 1891 and 1892. Alfred Shrubb later won the event for four consecutive years from 1901 to 1904. ^[5]

The club supplied seven Olympians for the 1908 Summer Olympics in London and later produced two silver medal winners at the Olympics with Tom Richards in 1948 ^[6] and Gordon Pirie in 1956. ^[7]

SLH has used 45 different venues for staging track and field meeting throughout its history but in 1991, the club moved from the Tooting Bec Athletics Track to the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, which it still uses for specialised training. SLH moved to the athletics track at Woodcote High School following its construction in 2013. ^[4]

Honours

• English National Cross Country Championships team winners: 1955, 1957, 1958
• English National Cross Country Championships individual winners: 1892, 1893, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1953, 1954, 1955

Notable athletes

Olympians

Athlete	Events	Games	Medals/Ref
Jack Densham	400m hurdles	1908	[8]
Alfred Flaxman	SHJ, GD, discus, javelin	1908	[9]
Jack George	100m, 200m	1908	[10]
Francis Knott	1500m	1908	[11]
Larry Manogue	800m	1908	[12]
Edwin Montague	400m, 1600m medley	1908	[13]
Jack Morton	100m, 200m, 1600m medley	1908	[14]
Leslie Housden	marathon	1920	[15]
Sonny Spencer	1500m	1924	[16]
Brian Oddie	5000m	1928	[17]
Harold Moody	shot put	1948	[18]
Derek Pugh	400m, 4 × 400 m relay	1948	[19]
Tom Richards	marathon	1948	[20]
Jack Parker	110m hurdles	1952, 1956	[21]
Gordon Pirie	5,000m, 10,000m	1952, 1956, 1960	[22]
Gordon Miller	high jump	1960, 1964
Laurie Reed	1500m	1960	[23]

• English unless stated
• GD=Greek discus, SHJ=standing high jump

Commonwealth Games

Athlete	Events	Games	Medals/Ref
Peter Driver	6 miles	1956
Harry Hedges	1 mile	1930

References

1. "Venues". South London Harriers. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
2. "Athletic Notes" . Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle. 16 December 1871. Retrieved 8 April 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
3. "South London Harriers" . South London Observer. 30 December 1871. Retrieved 8 April 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
4. "Our History". South London Harriers. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
5. Matthews/Morrison, Peter/Ian (1987). The Guinness Encyclopaedia of Sports Records and results, pages 73. Guinness Superlatives Ltd. ISBN   0-85112-492-5.
6. "Dazed marathon runner falls at post" . Sunday Express. 8 August 1948. Retrieved 8 April 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
7. "Kuts gets record in 5,000 metres" . Torbay Express and South Devon Echo. 28 November 1956. Retrieved 8 April 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
8. "Jack Denham Biographical Information". Olympedia. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
9. "Alfred Flaxman Biographical Information". Olympedia. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
10. "Jack George Biographical Information". Olympedia. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
11. "Francis Knott Biographical Information". Olympedia. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
12. "Larry Manogue Biographical Information". Olympedia. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
13. "Edwin MontagueBiographical Information". Olympedia. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
14. "Jack Morton Biographical Information". Olympedia. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
15. "Leslie Housden Biographical Information". Olympedia. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
16. "Sonny Spencer Biographical Information". Olympedia. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
17. "Brian Oddie Biographical Information". Olympedia. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
18. "Harold Moody Biographical Information". Olympedia. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
19. "Derek Pugh Biographical Information". Olympedia. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
20. "Tom Richards Biographical Information". Olympedia. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
21. "Jack Parker Biographical Information". Olympedia. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
22. "Gordon Pirie Biographical Information". Olympedia. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
23. "Laurie Reed Biographical Information". Olympedia. Retrieved 8 April 2025.