David Cornock
—Jan 13, 2025
On a cold, damp, dark Tuesday evening in January 2005, 12 runners gathered in Barnes Rugby Club in Queen Elizabeth Walk.
We - 10 women and 2 men - had all responded to posters that had begun to appear on trees and lampposts around SW13 (and beyond) over the Christmas period.
The recruitment flyers had been posted by Janet Stansfield, a local serial entrepreneur whose business interests have included personal training, a hotel, TV's Tomorrow's World, property, jewellery and interior design.
Janet, like many people, didn't like running alone on winter nights and thought a club would be safer and more sociable.
Once introductions were over, Janet led us on a run around SW13. We didn't lose anyone and Barnes Runners was born. We met initially on Tuesdays and Sundays at the rugby club, adding Thursday track sessions at Barn Elms later. Our early efforts hit the headlines.
The winter of 2004/5 was a good time to be a runner in SW London. Charlie Craven had just launched Fulham Running Club north of the river and Paul Sinton-Hewitt had created Bushy Park Time Trial a few months earlier. Whatever happened to that?
Barnes Runners began to grow. We started taking part in local races such as the Wokingham Half Marathon, the Bacchus and the Wedding Day 7K. The club embarked on its first overseas marathon trip - to Rotterdam - in 2007. Others - including Amsterdam, Sierra Leone and Athens - followed. Dozens of Barnes Runners have completed the London Marathon.
At home, we started our own monthly handicap, with an engraved trophy given to the annual winner. The men's and women's teams have graced, if that is the word, the Surrey League XC and road series.
After a year or so, the rugby club evicted us - the blazers didn't like us stretching in the bar. Perhaps it disturbed the overnight stench of stale tobacco - smoking indoors wasn't banned until 2007.
Luckily, we ended up at Rose House, welcoming HQ of the Barnes Community Association, which turned out to be a natural home. We have worked with the BCA to stage the annual Turkey Run, now a fixture in the Barnes calendar.
The original dozen varied in the number of the running miles they had on the clock and we have always tried to cater for runners of all abilities.
Some ran faster than others - Paul Cheetham's 2:34 marathon stands out among the club records. Some ran farther than others - Anna Brown and Vassos Alexander completed the Spartathlon. Only one of them got an Interflora tattoo to celebrate.
But the great thing about our sport is you don't have to run a marathon to be a runner or win a race to be a winner. In our 20th year we launched, with local councillor Marjie Millum, a very successful Couch to 5K programme.
The 20th anniversary falls on a Saturday, or parkrunday as it is known in running households. We shall celebrate at Richmond parkrun with a run, a volunteering shift or two, coffee and cake.