Black Country club honours veteran runners

Formed in 1920, West Bromwich Harriers were one of the founding members of the Birmingham Cross Country League

A Black Country running club has celebrated its 100th birthday by giving special awards to two long-standing members.

West Bromwich Harriers presented lifetime achievement awards to John Buckby and Dave Jones - and also announced plans to name races in their honour.

West Bromwich Harriers uses Darmouth Park as its running base and currently has around 50 members.

They are believed to be the smallest club ever to stage the National Cross Country Championships, which they did back in March 1960 - with post-race showers provided for runners by the local fire brigade.

John Buckby joined the club as a 19-year-old in 1959

In future, the club's Park Run Grand Prix will be known as the John Buckby Cup, in honour of a runner in his early 80s who is still competing in Saturday park runs.

"I've been running since 1959, so that's 64 years," Mr Buckby said.

"I ain't kidding you, I didn't know this was happening. Although I thought something was afoot because they kept saying 'your wife has to come'."

He added: "It's wonderful to get this recognition and it's great to see the club doing well again."

Dave Jones joined the club in 1977 and became West Bromwich Harriers' most prolific cross country runner with 115 races in the Birmingham and District League

The club's cross country trophy will now become the Dave Jones Cup.

"Its unbelievable," said Mr Jones. "I'd got an inkling that John was going to get an award, but I had no idea and it's tremendous.

"I've been running for the club for 46 years and it's been a pleasure and a privilige and this is just the icing on the cake."

He added: "It's a fantastic club, it's a great bunch of people to train with, spend a good night with, it's part of my routine and it has been for years."

Trainings nights are held weekly on Wednesday evenings starting at 7pm

Club chairman Karl Moore said post-lockdown, the club sometimes had single figures on training nights and there was no permanent home.

But he said a concerted effort to raise the profile of the club on social media had paid dividends.

"We wouldn’t be a running club without runners, and I’d like to thank each and every one of our members for making being a member of this club so enjoyable," he said.

"We have big plans for a small club, recruiting new members, and hopefully challenging for promotion in the cross country league and starting a junior section to get more youngsters into running."

Over the years, the club has had many homes in the West Bromwich, Great Barr and Walsall areas. The current base is at the Dartmouth Central Club in West Bromwich