It is regretted that two former chairmen of Stockport Harriers have recently passed away and their contributions to the local athletic club scene will be sorely missed.
Firstly Peter O’Hare who was chairman for two years in the early nineties and had an insatiable enthusiasm for marathons and half marathons including the tour of Tameside and is the only person known locally who has gone through a complete calendar year and undertaken a race every week, a feat which is unlikely to be accomplished again in a hurry. Peter was a stalwart of East Cheshire Harriers and then followed it up with a valuable period of time at Stockport Harriers before commencing his own running group in the Hyde area and taking time to coach many athletes up to good road, trail and fell racing levels.
Secondly there is Mike Durcan (pictured right) who was Stockport’s longest serving chairman by far from the beginning of the new century right through to only a couple of years ago and his star attraction was his trademark red beret which was an easy way of picking him out in the London marathon which he enjoyed on many occasions. His main training centre was from Jackson’s lane recreation centre, Hazel Grove where he was known by athletes far and wide from that area and another regular training area was to take to the canal tow path and the Middlewood way in the Marple area where he lived.