50 years on, Harriers still strong
FIFTY years ago a group of sporting enthusiasts sat around Garry Adair’s Enfield house, with the idea of starting up a local athletics club.
It was the birth of the Enfield Harriers Amateur Athletics Club, which has grown from 18 athletes to now having nearly 100 members.
On its 50th anniversary, it has also been named the Athletics SA Club of the Year for the second consecutive year.
"I am very proud and embarrassed," Mr Adair, now 81, says.
Starting the club was a hands-on effort for Mr Adair and his Progress Association members, who had to level out land at St Albans Reserve, Chester Ave.
"We worked our butts off, cutting into the cliff.
"I even wore out a lawn mower."
A modest Mr Adair, says he couldn’t have done it without his wife Audrey.
"When they give someone a reward in sport if they don’t give their wife something they are out of this planet, because without their 100 per cent support you can’t get anywhere."
Although he still visits the club, Mr Adair says he has learnt to "step away".
"The worse thing you can do is be there all the time and drive them crazy."
Mr Adair, who also started the Port Adelaide Athletics Club in 1957, competed at a state level in a range of sports, but his speciality was "100 yards and 31 miles".
In the late ‘40s he was coached by Percy Cerutty in Victoria, who also coached Commonwealth Games gold medallist middle-distance runner Herb Elliott.
"(Cerutty) once told me to run to the top of Mt Wellington in Tasmania - there was no way you would say no," Mr Adair says.
He stopped competing professionally when he started the Harriers.
"I was just mucking around after I started because I was too busy."
The Enfield Harriers 50th anniversary dinner will be held at St Albans Reserve, Chester Ave, on Saturday, October 23. Details and bookings: 8344 2513.
By Chloe Kennedy
