Photos of the event now here
thanks to Chris Challis, Margaret Powell and Simon Prior. if you have any to share, please email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The weekend of July 14th-16th 2012 saw the Club’s Honorary President return to the City to receive the Freedom of the City of Wells. There was a range of events taking place and Club members, old and new, were invited to join the juniors trackside on Monday evening when Mary visited. In addition, on Saturday morning we recreated her return to Wells after she had won the Olympic Gold Medal for Long Jump in 1964.
Timetable:
Saturday July 14th 12 Noon - Moved off from 10 Hervey Road. Wells followed by procession down St. Thomas Street, Sadler Street, High Street, along Whiting Way and up Portway to Wells Leisure Centre. A select group of junior Harriers proceeded with Mary led by Tony Williams who was the 'master of ceremonies' for this great idea..
Sunday July 15th pm – Wells City Council confered the Honorary Freedom of the City on Mary Rand Wells Town Hall followed by procession to St Cuthberts Church for Service of Celebration. The Harriers were represented at the Ceremony by Paul & Clive
Monday July 16th 5.45pm-6.30pm – Mary joined us trackside at Millfield school track to see some of our juniors in action and there were many an attempt on her long jump record! She also made some presentations to our talented juniors and longstanding coaches. All Harriers, young and old, were invited to join us.
Some of the Harrier committee members were also been invited to a special Dinner in Mary’s honour on Saturday July 14th eve.
Mary’s athletic career
Mary was born and bred in Wells and won a scholarship to Millfield school when aged 16. At the age of 17, Mary set a British national record of 4046 points in the pentathlon. She won a silver medal in the 1958 Commonwealth Games long jump and came fifth in the high jump. One month later she came seventh in the European pentathlon championships.
In the 1960 Olympics in Rome, she set a British record of 6.33m in the qualifying round of the long jump. In the final she fouled two of the three jumps and finished ninth. She also finished fourth in the 80m hurdles. She won a bronze medal in the European Championship long jump in 1962.
At the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, Mary set an Olympic record in the long jump in the qualifying rounds jumping 6.52m. Her first jump of 6.59m was a British record. However in the fifth round, on a wet runway with a headwind of 1.6 metres per second, she broke the world record, leaping 6.76m to take gold. To add to her gold in the long jump, she won a silver medal in the pentathlon (her total of 5035 points putting her in second place in the all-time rankings). She also won a bronze as a member of the Great Britain team that finished third in the 4x100 metres relay
Mary was awarded the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1965 New Year's Honours List and voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year for 1964. After Tokyo, her training was less intensive, but she won a gold medal in the long jump at the 1966 Commonwealth Games.
There is a plaque commemorating the world record long jump (6.76 metres) located in the Wells Market Place. Mary was appointed Honorary President of the Harriers in December 1981.
We be terrible proud of ‘ee: A celebration of sport in Wells
This special exhibition of all things sporting, featuring various bits of Harrier history (amongst other local Clubs) started on Wednesday July 18th 2012 at the Wells Museum. More details can be found here: