Thames Valley Harriers

Thames Valley Harriers (TVH) is an athletics club based in West London, England. It is based at the Linford Christie Stadium which is named after Olympic 100 metres gold medallist Linford Christie.

TVH competes in the Premier Division of the British Athletics League and the UK Women's Athletic League as well as the Division 1 of the Southern Athletics League. In 2016 TVH’s ladies team won the European Club Champions Cup.

As well as track and field, the club competes in road running and cross country at national, regional and county level. In recognition of the club's recent success - and TVH’s record of strong contribution to its local community - England Athletics voted Thames Valley Harriers the top London Club for 2015.

Thames Valley Harriers is one of the UK's longest-established and most successful athletics clubs. It was founded in 1887 by seven aspiring cross-country runners who used the 'Peels' coffee house in Richmond Road, West London as a base for their training runs. Christened the East Twickenham Harriers, the club flourished and to reflect its widening horizons took the name Thames Valley Harriers on November 14 1890.

TVH became a force both on the track and in endurance races. The 1908 Olympics in nearby White City increased the club's profile and a first Olympian was secured in 1936 when George Traynor competed in the long jump alongside Jesse Owens.

Other standout performers included Ken Norris who finished second in the 1954 world cross country championships and Ron Hopcroft who set world records for both the 50 and 100 miles. TVH was also the club where middle distance coach Frank Horwill first developed his methods, including the creation of the British Milers Club in 1963.

TVH was a founding member of the British Athletics League in 1969 and enjoyed great success over the next two decades, winning the title three times and finishing in the top three on a total of 14 occasions, as well as achieving multiple wins in the Southern road relays and cross country championships.

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