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.
History
The club was founded on 27 December 1871 at a meeting in the Vivian Arms in Peckham Rye, with the first cross country race taking place on 13 January 1872 and the first track meeting held on 24 August 1872.
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.
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 and Gordon Pirie in 1956.
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.
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 AthleteEventsGamesMedals/RefJack Densham 400m hurdles 1908Alfred Flaxman SHJ, GD, discus, javelin 1908Jack George 100m, 200m 1908Francis Knott 1500m 1908 Larry Manogue 800m 1908Edwin Montague 400m, 1600m medley1908Jack Morton 100m, 200m, 1600m medley 1908Leslie Housden marathon 1920Sonny Spencer 1500m 1924Brian Oddie 5000m 1928Harold Moody shot put 1948Derek Pugh 400m, relay 1948 Tom Richards marathon 1948Jack Parker 110m hurdles 1952, 1956Gordon Pirie 5,000m, 10,000m 1952, 1956, 1960Gordon Miller high jump 1960, 1964 Laurie Reed 1500m 1960 English unless stated GD=Greek discus, SHJ=standing high jump
Commonwealth Games AthleteEventsGamesMedals/RefPeter Driver6 miles 1956Harry Hedges 1 mile 1930
References