The Herne Hill Harriers is an amateur athletics sports club based at Tooting Bec Athletics Track in Tooting Bec, London. The club caters to all levels and ages of track, field, road running and cross-country running and begins training athletes at age 11 and offers “Star Track” an opportunity for younger children to get involved at the end of July each year.
History
The club was founded in the Herne Hill district of London in 1889 and completed their first handicap event in 1890.
Joe Deakin won the club's first Olympic Gold medal at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London.
In 2026, the club won the women's team and individual event (Lucy Jones) at the English National Cross Country Championships.
Leagues
Herne Hill Harriers athletes are involved in a number of different leagues and competitions. The men's track and field team competes in the second and third division of the Southern men's league as well as the Rosenheim league involving other local clubs. The women's track and field team competes in the UK women's athletics league while younger athletes compete as a part of the National young athletes league as well as the Ebbisham and Lily B Leagues.
The club's cross-country athletes compete in the Surrey and East Surrey Cross Country Leagues each season as well as the South of Thames, Surrey, South of England and National Cross Country championships Road Runners at Herne Hill Harriers compete annually in the Surrey, South of England and National 6-stage Road relays in the autumn and in the longer 12-stage road relays in the spring as well as participating in the Surrey Road League over the summer months
Major honours English National Cross Country Championships winners; 2026
Notable athletes Former Olympians and European champions in athletics have run for the club including Olympic medalists Joe Deakin, David Jacobs, Herbert Johnston, Ernest Webb and Thomas Humphreys, as well as Harry Green, another Olympian who held a world best in the marathon, as well as Michael Maynard, part of the historic England Team that took gold at the 1957 International Cross Country Championships in San Sebastián, Spain.
Olympians AthleteEventsGamesMedals/RefErnie Webb 3,500m walk, 10 miles walk 1908, 1912Fred Appleby marathon 1908Geoffrey Burton 400m hurdles 1908Joe Deakin 3 Miles Team Race 1908Bill Palmer 3,500m walk, 10 miles walk 1908, 1912Albert Rowland 3,500m walk, 10 miles walk 1908Harry Green marathon 1912Ernest Haley 200m, 400m 1912Albert Hare 1500m 1912Thomas Humphreys 10,000m, crosscountry1912David Jacobs100m, 200m 4×100m relay 1912Tim Kellaway marathon 1912Edgar Lloyd marathon 1912Algernon Wells 200m, 400m 1912Herbert Johnston 5000m, 3,000m team race 1924, 1928Donald Chapman 4x400m relay (ns) 1928William Craner 4x400m relay 1928Terry Higgins 400m, 4x400m relay 1948, 1952Ian Boyd 1500m 1956Ron Clark marathon 1956John Howell long jump 1960Laurie Taitt 110m hurdles 1964Jade Johnson long jump2004, 2008Franka Magali 100m 2008Katie Snowden 1500m 2020
Commonwealth Games AthleteEventsGamesMedals/RefBob Setti 4 x 440y1962Sheikh Omar Faye High Jump 1970
Other European Cross Country Championships: Benedict Whitby (silver) 10,000m Team Race Dublin 2009, David Taylor (bronze) 9,000m Team Race Alnwick, Northumberland 1995 European Masters Athletics Championship: Stuart Thurgood (gold) - Weight Throw - Ismir, Turkey - 2014 (silver) - M40 Hammer Throw - Aarhus, Denmark - 2017 European Under 20 Championships: Olivia Hines (gold)- 4 × 400 m (1st leg) - Grosseto - 2001 European Junior Championship: Uvie Ugono (gold) 4 × 100 m, Ljublijana 1997, John Boggis (silver) 3,000m Paris 1970
All medals won for Great Britain/England unless stated otherwise. Into the Millennium - A history of Herne Hill Harriers - 1889 - 2001 by Kevin Kelly (2002)
Kit The club vest consists of a crop top or vest with red and black horizontal stripes, with black shorts.
References