Our History

1906

CELTIC HARRIERS CONCEPTION

One evening in 1906 a group of young Irishmen met in a hall in Cape Town to discuss forming an athletic club. There was considerable enthusiasm and as a result of it the Celtic Harriers Club was born. Captain Shawelhood was the chairman and R.H Heaney was the first captain of the club. Others present at the meeting include Charles Robertson, A.D. Hamilton, Sid Panther, E.Brassell, P.V. O’Keefe, F.C. Friedmond and H.Seffe. R. Sid Panther was an outstanding personality who did much to foster club spirit, such as organising hikes from Kloof Nek to The Glen and from Fish Hoek to Kommetjie.

1907

WESTERN PROVINCE CHAMPIONSHIP

In the club’s second year during the 1907-8 track season, club member S.V. “Servie” Brown won a Western Province track event championship, the 4 miles. In the same year he won a South African title, the 2-miles steeplechase, and the next year he won the W.P. 10 mile cross-country title. Celtic Harriers tied with Spartan Harriers in the 10 mile cross-country team event.

1909 - 1914

CROSS COUNTRY WESTERN PROVINCE

The Club was strong on the track and cross-country throughout the 5 seasons from 1909-10 to 1913-14, with members of the Club winning 12 W.P. track titles and 2 South African track titles as well as 2 Western Province cross-country championships. The Club also won the cross-country team event once. The members who won these titles were P.G.Kock, H.Elsner, J.W. Herman, E.T.Kotze, George Keay and Frank Solomon. Individuals who represented South Africa in this period include W.H. Vogt (1923).

In the period between the two World Wars, the Club was very strong in track and field events, especially during the 1930's in track races. There is a long list of members of the Club who won W.P. titles and, in some cases, South African titles. Club member Esther Brand won the high jump at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki.

During this period the Club was primarily a club of track and field athletics, not cross-country or road runners. However, three club members won the W.P cross-country championships (10 miles): C.H.Dreyer (1919-20), C.J Worrall (1930) and T.Lehy (1938). In 1938, T.Lehy also won the WP.marathon title. Individuals who represented South Africa in this period include H.Q. Davies (1930), A.J. Bell and H.Q. Davies (1934), K.E. Hall, S. Kiel and C.J. Morgon (1935), K. Reyneke and W.H. Vogt (1948) and J.B. Wahl (1950).

1960

DON LOCK MEMORIAL RUN

The Don Lock Memorial Run was founded by Celtic member Alex Jones in memory of club member Don Lock who tragically lost his life in a motor accident. The 8km race has been held annually since 1960 and covers almost the same route between the Rondebosch Common and our Clubhouse. More recently, a 15km route was added to the programme.

1964

CAPE PENINSULA MARATHON

Instigated by Celtic member Alex Jones, Cape Peninsula Marathon has been run between Cape Town and Simon’s Town over almost the same route since 1964. The marathon was not held between 1994 and1997 when it was replaced by the Cape Town Marathon. However, with a shortage of marathons in the Western Province, the Cape Peninsula Marathon was soon reinstated. Many different sponsors have assisted the club over the years, and in 2023 a 10-year sponsorship was entered into with Balwin Sports, a subsidiary of Balwin Properties.

1970

TWO OCEANS MARATHON

The 56km Two Oceans Marathon was started in 1970 by Dave Venter of Celtic Harriers and given its name by then club member, Noel Stamper. The club organised this event until around 2012 when the club formed and ceded the intellectual property to the non-profit company Two Oceans Marathon NPC. Celtic Harriers still provides 4 directors of the 12 member Board. Further details of the Two Oceans Marathon can be found in the book “Celebrating 50 years of the Two Oceans Marathon”, published in 2019.

In 1999 Edgar Clark won the Cape Town Marathon, the W.P. Marathon championships and notched an amazing 3rd place in the Two Oceans Marathon. Fran Pocock, Pixie Sparg and Lynne ‘Spence dominated the Masters ladies. Our top performers in cross-country were Pieter Koopman, Bulelwa Mtshagi, Sheryl de Lange, Fran Pocock, Pixie Sparg, Barend Jacobs, Geoff Tribe and Roy Anderson. Individuals who represented South Africa in this time period include M. Fiasconaro, D. Dekkers, D. Muller, E. Peters and S. Banner (1971), R. Roto (1993) and J. Parrot and E. Koopman (1995)

WORLD 100KM CHAMPIONSHIPS

In the year 2000, Edgar Clark was chosen to represent South Africa at the World 100km championships. He, together with Pieter Koopman continued to do well in team placings at road races. Our top juniors were Bulelwa Mtshagi and Stefano Kruger (walker). Individuals who represented South Africa in this time period include E.Clark (2000), B. Mtshagi, A. Godongwana and Z. Xiniwe (2001) and N. Sonqibido (2003).