Fifty Years of Progress 1880-1930

A.A.A. JUBILEE SOUVENIR Highgate Harriers . Finchley Harriers . Sutton H. and A. C. Hallam.shire Harriers Surrey A.C. * Denotes a tie. (No contest 191 5-6-7-8-9.) . 1899-1902-4-5. . 1900. . 1906. 1908-1910-1-2-1927. . 1914. The individual national champion, and the number of times supplied by each club are as follows:- Thames Hare and Hounds 4 Clapton Beagles 2 Moseley Harriers . 2 Godiva Harriers 2 Birchfield Harriers 6 Salford Harriers 4 Spartan Harriers . l South London Harriers 6 Thames Valley Harriers l Manchester Harriers Northampton and County 2 Finchley Harriers 2 A.A.C. Highgate Harriers 3 Sutton H. and A.C. l Hallamshire Harriers 4 Surrey A.C. l Thrapston and District A.C. 2 Royal Corps of Signals 2 Frome 2 Kettering Harriers l From these performances it can be seen that in team honours the Midlands easily holds a great lead, while in individual champions the South predominates. In 1920 and 1922, when J. Guillemot won, the entry of French athletes was allowed. It is worthy of note that the record performance of Moseley Harriers– four successive wins, 1881-2-3-4-stood for thirty-nine years ( l 884 to r923), when Birchfield Harriers equalled it, and then went on to score three more times, to establish a new record of seven successive wins. The individual record-four times national champion, by P. H . Stenning (Thames Hare and Hounds), 1877-8-9-1880, was equalled by that great runner, A. Shrubb (South London Harriers), in 1901-2-3-4, but has yet to be beaten. There is a great glamour attaching to a ational Crosscountry Cham– pionship, as it constitutes the grand.finale to the clubs' winter season, and the splendid healthy rivalry existing among competitors, officials and public alike is such that I am proud to have been associated with the sport practically from its infancy. Of all the ational Championships I have seen, there is one which always stands out very clearly in my memory. I refer to the tie, Essex Beagles and Birchfield Harriers, in 18.92. It was agreed to run this off on the track at Paddington Recreation Ground, and while Birchfield won the team race, it was the performance of the Chelmsford runner, C. E. Willers (Essex Beagles) who won, and T. Birch (Birchfield H.), second, who ran brilliantly, that one remembers most clearly. Birch led all II2