Grandaughter of Sheffield Olympian Ernie Harper backs campaign to take trail running back to Olympics 100 years on

Ernie Harper, a runner and former Hallamshire Harrier, competed at Paris 1924 in the cross-country, now more commonly known as trail running.

One hundred years ago, Harper ran in an infamous cross-country event that year in which a difficult course combined with extreme weather conditions of over 40C and noxious fumes emitted from a power plant near the course, resulted in only 15 of the 38 starters crossing the finish line.

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After the event, both the Red Cross and local police spent hours searching for runners who had passed out on the course.

Harper, who was Great Britain’s only finisher, placed just outside of the medals in fourth place.

A century on, British trail runners have launched a new campaign to take the sport to future Olympic Games by running 455km from London to Paris - arriving in the French capital last Sunday evening after four days of gruelling running, navigating their way from city to city.

Harper’s granddaughter, Jan Humphrey, supports the campaign and believes we owe it to the competitors of the ill-fated race a century ago to reintroduce running off-road.

“Ernie was a real trailblazer in every sense of the word – he was a natural runner and competitor – a true Olympian,” she said.

“We continue to derive pride from having an Olympian in the family and still have pictures from his adventure to the 1924 Olympics. Despite missing out on the medals and the testing running conditions, he was incredibly proud to be part of the Olympic movement.

“He went on to compete in two further Olympics, winning a marathon silver medal in Berlin in 1936. I’ve no doubt he’d be actively backing the campaign to bring trail running to the Olympics in 2032 in Australia where he emigrated and built a family.”

The campaign, instigated by outdoor footwear company, Merrell, and athletes from running clubs across the nation, are calling on Olympic decision-makers to include trail running at future Olympic Games, starting with Brisbane 2032, the next cycle for new sports to be introduced to the programme.

Trail running has been catapulted into the spotlight in recent weeks after Jasmin Paris became the first woman to complete the infamous Barkley Marathons, an ultramarathon of 100 miles and 54,200 feet of vertical climb. Fellow Brit Russ Cook also completed an epic achievement by running the length of Africa.

In recent history, trail running has been on a steep ascent of popularity to become one of the world’s fastest growing sports, according to the International Track and Field Federation, with millions of people around the world participating in races, events, and recreational runs.

Now, fans of the sport believe it now deserves its place within the Olympic schedule.

As part of the campaign, Merrell has penned an open letter to representatives of the International Olympic Committee, International Trail Running Association and Brisbane 2032, calling on them to set the wheels in motion to include trail running at the Olympics when the Games go Down Under.

Simon Sweeney, marketing manager at Merrell said: “Harper serves as a brilliant inspiration to the running community - just finishing that race in 1924 was a feat in itself. There’s no doubt Ernie would be pleased to see his sport in such good health, but there are still milestones to achieve.

“As trail running fans, we wanted to use our platform to help mobilise the international trail running community around a common cause.

“One that we firmly believe has been overlooked for too long – we’re calling on Olympic organisers to end the century of hurt and give trail running its rightful place within the Olympic schedule.”

Sheffield has a rich history of Olympics athletes, including London 2012 gold medal winning and three time world champion heptathlete Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill, and two time 1500m gold medalist Sebastian Coe, who has served as the President of World Athletics since 2015.