Thames Hare and Hounds

{{Infobox athletics club

| name = Thames Hare and Hounds

| type = Running club
Sports club

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| founded = {{Start date and age|1868}}

| ground =

| location = Wimbledon Common, Roehampton

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| leader_title = Founders

| leader_name = Thames Rowing Club

| league(s) = Surrey Cross Country League

| activities = Cross country running
Road running
Relays

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| website = {{URL|www.thameshareandhounds.org.uk}}

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Thames Hare and Hounds is the oldest adult cross-country running club in the world, based on the Roehampton end of Wimbledon Common, adjacent to Richmond Park, and draws runners from across south-west London. Both the men's and women's teams compete in the Surrey Cross Country League, division one; the club also fields teams in road races and relays. Thames host races in Richmond Park and on Wimbledon Common, in particular the cross-country Oxford–Cambridge Varsity Match, held each year since 1880[http://users.ox.ac.uk/~ouccc/history/varsity/ Historical Varsity Match Results] on Wimbledon Common after the end of Michaelmas term.

History

The club was founded in 1868, by members of Thames Rowing Club, particularly Walter Rye.{{cite web|title=Mr. Walter Rye|url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Times/1929/Obituary/Walter_Rye|work=The Times|accessdate=4 April 2014}} Its name derives from the Victorian game of "Hare and Hounds" or "Paper Chase", in which one runner (the "hare") lays a trail of paper to be followed by the other runners (the "hounds"). The game had been established in schools for decades before the founding of Thames - the Royal Shrewsbury School Hunt has written records going back to 1831.{{cite web | url=http://www.shrewsbury.org.uk/page/hunt-rssh | title=The Royal Shrewsbury School Hunt (R.S.S.H.) | publisher=Shrewsbury School | date=2011}}

References

External links

[http://www.thameshareandhounds.org.uk/v3/index2.php Thames Hare and Hounds]

Category:Sports clubs and teams established in 1868

Category:Running clubs in the United Kingdom

Category:1868 establishments in England