How a failed love affair led to a 50 year passion for Mansfield Harriers' secretary Richard Massey

A young Richard Massey, who is now the club’s hard-working secretary, put on a pair of runners back in 1977 and headed up to the Harriers to strut his stuff.

And though that budding romance failed to blossom it did lead to an ever-lasting passion for the town’s popular athletics club.

“I would have been 15 and I had just started dating this girl,”explains Richard.

“I went and met her dad and he asked me if I run. So, of course, I said yes to impress him. He invited me up to the club and, 50 years next year, I am still here.

“A month later we split up, it’s quite bizarre really. I think he was quite happy that we had split up.”

That father’s loss has certainly been the Harriers gain with dedicated Richard going on to fulfill many roles at the club down the years.

It has seen the athletics lover play a key role in developing the 87 year-old club into an influential part of the Mansfield sports scene.

“When I first started there were probably ten members at the club, then we went up to hundreds,” reflected Richard.

“We had a couple of bad years, but we have come back and we now have 400 plus members and we are in a really good place again.

“I have had some great times here. I was lucky enough to go to Barbados for the Youth Commonwealth Games and Luke Duffy, one of the guys I coached, took a bronze medal. To be in that stadium when he won that medal was a fantastic experience.

“I am honoured to have been here so long and seen the journey.”

But Richard’s passion for the Harriers extends far beyond a simple love for athletics, with his desire to nurture and develop the club’s youngsters very much at the heart of his raison d’etre.

“I have been coaching a long time and I am now coaching kids whose parents I used to coach. I’m waiting for the first grandchild, it won’t be many years now,” added Richard.

“I like to see the club develop, particularly the kids. We have got some great kids who run for the club. They train regularly and hard and it gives them so many life skills as well.

“They have race pressures, so when they do something like an exam or a driving test they have already experienced the pressure and are in a much better place.

“The club is helping to support a really good crop of kids. They get a really good social life out of it. We go all over the place and often stop overnight, so we really try to make it a social thing as well as a competitive thing.

“I would like to think that most people know about the Harriers. People read about what we are doing and we believe we are building a good thing here.”

The thriving Harriers have been steered onwards for just shy of 15 years now by club chairman Pat Carlan.

Pat’s commitment to the cause even saw him land the coveted England Athletics' Club Leader of the Year title in 2023.

But personal glory is the last thing on Pat’s mind, with the desire to put something back into the sport and see the Harriers go from strength to strength helping to push him on.

“I have spent many years involved with all the athletic events around the club,” said Pat, who joined the Harriers in 1988.

“I became a committee member and chairman back in 2012. There is a lot of satisfaction coming from the work that is put in, which is why I keep doing it really.

“I am putting something back into the club and the sport. I have got a lot out of running and really enjoyed myself.

“I don’t run now, so this is my way of returning the favour so to speak. I look at one year ahead each time and develop each year to make the club bigger each year.

“I want to make us able to provide a great base of sport in Mansfield, track and field as well as cross-country. We are gaining a great reputation for hosting big events like the national cross-county relays.

“We are gaining an even bigger reputation on the track and field side, so more of the same is what we want.

“Success breeds success and the more you put into it the more you will get out of it. That means I am asking a lot of people to give up their time and it puts pressure on people, but you can’t achieve it without putting all the hard work into it.”

In 1958, with the newly created athletic track in Berry Hill Park, the club established its headquarters changing its name to the Berry Hill Mansfield Athletic Club.

Mansfield Running Club was established in 1983 in response to the “Fun Running Boom” catering for adults specializing in road and cross country running and was a strong force in local leagues producing several international veteran runners.

Mansfield Harriers and Athletic Club was created in September 1995 through the merger of Berry Hill A.C. and Mansfield Running Club.