Rossendale Harriers and Athletic Club
Founded 1967.
2007 sees Rossendale Harriers and Athletic Club celebrating its 40th birthday.Through those years lots of people have come and gone and made their individual mark on the club in one way or another.
Prior to 1967 there was no formal Athletic Club in Rossendale although there were individuals competing in running events and several fell races had been organised locally including the Tor Mile which has a long history.
The club was formed in response to Rossendale Borough Council building the running track and pavilion at Marl Pits.

The formation of the club was largely down to the work of 2 men, Walter Whittaker ( who is still our President to this day ) chairman of the Rawtenstall Sports Council and Eddie Roberts a teacher at a local school.

Rossendale Harriers and A.C. are based at Marl Pits Sports Centre which is situated on Newchurch Road in Rawtenstall (signposted from the town centre) We train twice a week from Marl Pits from 6.45 pm-7.00pm start year round.
Training is usually on the local hills or on the road or track during the Summer months or on the roads or track during the Winter. Our youngest members do indoor training/conditioning during the colder Winter period.
Training is usually done in groups depending on ability or application and we cater for ages and abilities.
For first time runners or people wanting to get themselves fit or fitter we have our Monday night "First Steps to Fitness" at the same time and venue.
Training is done under the guidance of qualified UKA coaches all of who are CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) checked.
For further guidance on training/coaching look on the Training page on this site.
Many of our members have years of experience in all of the different disciplines within athletics and we are able to offer useful help and advice whether it be on Fell Running, Mountain Marathons,navigation, road racing and marathons or track racing.
Rossendale Harriers organise several Fell races details of which can be found elsewhere on this site.
As well as training outside we also have our own weight room/gym which is well equipped and available to club members to use 7 days a week.
The club is run by volunteers who give up their time to ensure smooth running of our activities and the committee is elected/reelected on an annual basis.All club members are welcome to attend our monthly committee meetings.


Some of the revelers at our 40th birthday open day September 07