Tony Audenshaw – may be best known for his starring role in ITV’s ‘Emmerdale’ but he is also an endurance runner with two sub-3 marathons to his name. In 2010, he broke the Guinness World Record for the fastest time by a runner dressed as a baby at the London Marathon. Tony often runs for the charity Leukaemia & Lymphoma as well as Pancreatic Cancer Research. He was also the Stockport 10 commentator for a number of years.
Elle Baker – ran for Harriers from 2011-2018 in middle-distance, road-running, and XC. Her victories include: 2011 Northern Cross Country U20 Champion, 2014 BMC Grand Prix 5000m, 2015 Northern Cross-Country Championship and 2018 SIAB Schools XC Champion.
Andrew Davies – won the Northern Cross-Country Championships at Pontefract in 2015 with a 6 second margin over GB Olympic Triathlon Gold Medallist Alistair Brownlee. He has competed for Wales in the Commonwealth Games. In February 2022, he ran the Seville Marathon in 2.14.20, a PB of 16 seconds and the fastest time by any UK V40.
Alan Dilkes – Alan was Club Secretary for over 25 years from 1995 to 2021 and has run the Club’s successful Tuck Shop as well as helping to organise the Stockport 10, Offerton 10k and Offerton 5 races as well League XC matches at Woodbank and Woodbank parkrun.
Alexis Dinsmor – has had numerous age group wins on the road and in cross-country events. In recent years, she has introduced many new runners to the sport through a successful Couch to 5k programme.
Ron Hill – the late Dr Ron Hill OBE was one of the greatest British endurance runners of all time and was only the 2nd person in history to break 2.10 in the marathon. Because his first claim club, Clayton-le-Moors, did not take part in track and field events, he occasionally ran on the track for Stockport and in 1998 he was elected Life Vice President of the Club.
Bashir Hussain – has won many titles, including the British Masters 5k title in 2005. He won the famous Eccles Pike Fell Race, the oldest in the country, in 1985 in time of 19.58. He won the prestigious Tour of Tameside in his debut outing in 1994 and again in 1995, 97 and 98. He is a multiple winner of the Wilmslow Half Marathon. He was on the British team for the 2016 World Masters Championships in Perth, Australia. He holds club records at 1500m, 3000m, 5000m and 10,000m.
Jenny Knass – has had great success in Marathons and Half Marathons, as well as shorter distances. She has won HMs at Nottingham, Central Lancs, Wrexham, Arley Hall, and Cheshire. She won the 2017 Wrexham 20 in 2.15.23 and has a marathon PB of 2.50.48 in Berlin 2015.
Steve Jones – has run over 60 marathons, including all 6 Abbott Majors (London, Berlin, Boston, NYC, Chicago and Tokyo), and was the 2nd British runner to complete all six in under 3 hours. He has run the 55-mile Comrades Marathon in S Africa twice. He ran the Bob Graham Round in 2009 – 66-miles and 26,900’ of climb in the Lake District, which must be completed in under 24 hours. Three other Harriers have also successfully completed the Round: Paul Stepto, Paul Payne, and Lee Barratt.
Jayne Lawton – is a prolific marathoner, with over 50 full and half marathons to her name, including completing the famous 55-mile Comrades Marathon in S Africa twice (2015 & 2016). As one of the top UK finishers in 2015, she was the guest of the organisers for her 2nd attempt. She is the course record holder for the Bullock Smithy Hike with a time of 8.32.23 in the 2014 race.
Jack Martin – was the 2018 winner of the Stockport 10 and has competed successfully in middle distance, endurance and XC events since 2000 for Sunderland before moving to Stockport in 2012. He won the Stockport 10 in 2018 and was part of the winning team at the ERRA National 6-stage Road Relays in 2018.
Patrick Martin – has competed since 2000 as a top level junior and senior athlete, first at Sunderland, and then as a Harrier from 2012. He was the Northeastern Counties Cross Country Champion in 2015. He won the Stockport 10 in 2016 and was part of the winning Harriers team in at the ERRA National 6-stage Road Relays in 2018.
Ross Millington – Ross has been a Harrier since he was a junior in 2002. Apart from cross-country, he spent most of his first 12 years racing middle distance, from 1500m to 5000m. In May 2016, he won the prestigious Night of the 10,000 PBs at Highgate, in a time of 28.28.2, and just a few weeks later ran his 10,000m PB in The Netherlands in a time of 27.55.06, securing his place on the GB Team in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Jack Morris – has starred on the track, road and cross-country. He won the Greater Manchester County XC Championships in 2011 & 2012. He was the winner of the Manchester Area Cross Country League for the 2016/17 season and winner of the Stockport 10 in 2017.
Estelle McGuire (nee Craig) – won the Manchester Marathon in 1999 with a time of 2.52. In recent years, she has focused on off-road racing, both XC and Fells.
Jackie Newton – won the Tour of Tameside in 1996. She won the Four Villages HM in 2000 in 78.02 and was the Cheshire 5000m champion in 2001. She was on the British Team at the 2016 World Masters Championships in Perth, Australia in both track and cross-country events. She was appointed as the Director of Coaching and Athlete Development for Athletics Northern Ireland in May 2017. In May 2021, she was appointed as Head of Coaching Development for UK Athletics.
Mike & Peter Nixon – the ‘Nixon twins’, Mike & Peter, were both outstanding athletes during their competitive years. They now coach both junior and senior athletes in off-road endurance and top-level junior athletes in track events. Their athletes include Harry Ellwood, Finley Mayoh and Freya Murdoch who won the 2021 U15 Girls England Athletics National 1500m Champion in 4.32.57. Mike’s son Jack has run at the highest level for the Club: he was the Greater Manchester County Cross-Country Champion in 2013 and won the Stockport 10 in 2015. Peter’s son Andy was the Greater Manchester Schools 3000m Champion in 2006, won the BUPA Great Winter Run in Edinburgh in 2014 and the New Balance Knighton 20 in 2016.
Lady Mary Peters - LG, CH, DBE – competing for Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the1972 Munich Olympics, Peters won Gold in the Pentathlon. She was elected Harriers Life President at a Special General Meeting in Jan 1975 in recognition of her athletic success.
Jess Piasecki (nee Coulson) – was the European U23 Cross Country Champion in 2012. She has a marathon PB of 2.25.28, the 3rd fastest time in history for a British woman. She ran for GB in the marathon in the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo. In Februay 2022, she ran 2.22.25 at the Seville Marathon, making her the second fastest UK female marathoner of all time, behind the legendary Paula Radcliffe. Jess is a lecturer in Exercise Physiology within the Sport Science Department at Nottingham Trent University.
Peter Powell – was Club Chair twice before the turn of the century and from 2019-2021. An avid runner in his younger years, his personal highlight is a 64.24 in the 1982 Clitheroe 10-mile Race. For over 30 years, he organised running tours of Harriers to many different European countries.
Louise Rudd – has enjoyed success on the British and International Masters stage. Her titles include the 800m Bronze Medal in the World Masters Championships in 2019. Coached by David Turnbull, she won Golds in the 2017 European and World 800m Masters Championships. She holds the Club Veterans’ Record at every distance from 200m to 5,000m.
James Scott-Buccleuch – is an all-rounder who has enjoyed success on the track, road, cross-country fells and ultra-races. In 2011, he won the Boars Head and Whaley Waltz Fell Races and the 55-mile Bullock Smithy, which he also won in 2013 & 2014. He won the Northern Vets 10,000m title in 2013, the Hatters Half Marathon in 2016, the Netherhall 10 in 2017, the BMAF 5000m in 2019 and the BMAF Pentathlon in 2021.
Andrew Small MBE - is one of the top wheelchair sprinters in the world. He won Bronze in the 2016 Paralympics 100m in Rio, Gold in the 2021 Paralympics 100m in Tokyo and was silver medallist in the 2017 & 2019 World Para Games.
Rob Taylor – has been a top performer on the roads, cross-country and fells for the Club for over 50 years. He was English National V60 Fells Champion in 2012 and V70 Champion in 2021. He led a team including Alan Pover and Frank Reilly to victory in the BMAF Road Relays V65 AG at Sutton Park in 2016 and Rob’s own time of 18.36 for the 3-mile route set a BMAF AG record.
David Turnbull – one of the most successful coaches in Club History, Dave was also a speedy endurance runner during his racing years. He finished 3rd in the 1989 Stockport Half Marathon in a time of 69.19 and ran the 1991 Offerton Golden Hind 6 in 31.01. His athletes include multiple English National Cross-Country winner Steve Vernon, Jack & Patrick Martin, Jenny Knass, Alex O’Gorman and Mollie Williams.
Steve Vernon – has won more English National Cross-Country titles than any runner, including Senior Men’s titles in 2010 and 2014. He was 10th in the European Cross-Country Championships in 2012. An outstanding middle-distance runner in his early career, he has excelled in both fell and mountain racing. He is making his mark as a Coach and his runners include national team runners Andrew Davies, Jonny Mellor, Ross Millington and Adam Craig.
Hilary West – is a Masters sprint and middle-distance runner who wore a Harriers vest from 2009-17. She medalled in many regional and national masters’ events from 100m – 1500m, including Golds at the 2015 British Masters 800m and the 2017 British Masters 400m.
Maureen Wilkins – was made a Life Member in 2019 for her many contributions to the Club including 25 years of coaching senior endurance runners. She has competed in European and World Masters Duathlon Championships on the GB team.
Mollie Williams – has had great success on the track, and cross country as both a junior and senior athlete since starting to compete in 2008. Her wins include the Cheshire County Schools 3000m Championships in 2014 & 2015, the Antrim International XC in 2016, the Tatton 10k in Jan 2020, the Mid-Cheshire 5k in April 2021 and the Manchester Half Marathon in Oct 2021 in 75.46.
Kerrie Wood-Doyle – is an endurance, cross-country and fell runner with many wins in her career including the tough Buxton Half Marathon in 2004 and the Offerton 10k in 2012. She holds the Club Veteran 10,000m record. In addition to continuing to race as a veteran, she and her husband Mike coach Club junior athletes.
Credits: Archives of Hamish Thomson, Stockport Advertiser, Stockport Express, Manchester Evening News, Athletics Review, Athletics Journal, UK Athletics, BMAF, Mark Shearman, Pete Brown Photography.