| Chapter 1 1889-1914 (page 4)
In the period between our foundation and the outbreak of the First
World War in 1914, Sefton Harriers were Liverpool and District Cross
Country Champions seven times. We also provided seven individual
winners.
1894 A.W. Geddes
1895 W.S.Collett
1900 J.Roberts
1901 J.Roberts
1908 W.T.Clarke
1909J.T.Rimmer
1910W.T.Clarke
They were palmy days indeed with so many runners of this class. we
extended our sphere of influence on cross-country when in 1908 the great
W.T.Clarke won the Northern Counties Championship and Sefton took the
bronze medals in the team race. In the same year, Clarke finished 5th in
the International Championships. This was a wonderful year for
W.T.Clarke, and to crown it, he was selected to represent Great Britain
in the Olympic Games in London, finishing 12th place in the marathon.
W.T.Clarke brought many honours to our Club, and he ranks high in the
Sefton Hall of Fame. When his name first appeared on the Club records ,
it was on his being elected as a new member on 24th July 1905. Who then
could have foretold the impact he was to make on the Clubs fortunes in
the years that followed.
In those days it was a much more accepted practise, than it is now, for
runners, particularly the more prominent ones, to move from club to
club. The sport was still young, and the structure of rules by which it
is governed today, had yet to fully evolve. Around the years of
1904/1905 we were joined by the legendary J.T.Rimmer. His name
first appears on Club documents on 2nd May 1905, where he is shown
as being entered for the Winnet Cup along with J.Roberts, J.Edge,and
S.Francom, J.Wooley and J.Rigby. J.T.Rimmer was already famous when he
joined Sefton. In 1900 at Paris Olympiad, he won the 4,000 metres
Steeplechase in a time of 12 mins 58.4 secs. In the same year just prior
to the Olympic Games, Jack won the A.A.As 4 mile track Championship, and
he, along with fellow A.A.As champions. A.E.Tysoe (880yds) and C.Bennett
(1 mile) comprised the Great Britain's winning team in the
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