Written by Alex Seftel

“Absolutely, totally, it could never be as good as this,” said Tony Bush.

The long-serving Harrow AC team manager had been asked if winning the National Athletics League title was the highlight of his life-long association with the club.

Lifting the trophy was very much a team achievement, but it also represented a personal triumph for Bush, given his years of service to Harrow, to which many athletes owe a debt of gratitude.

“I’ve known Tony since 1974, when I joined the club as a 15-year-old”, said runner Chris Finill.

“He is one of the most remarkable people in athletics that I have ever met. A very smart and dedicated man.”

Chris knows a thing or two about dedication, he’s one of six athletes who have run every edition of the London Marathon since its inception in 1981.

The pair are both very familiar with the term Old Gaytonians, the former name for the club when it was founded in 1921.

It was originally associated with Harrow County Grammar School. Tony himself went to the school, leaving in 1962 to study at the University of Birmingham.

When the club first qualified for what was then known as the British Athletics League, the team consisted of 16 athletes, more than half of the whom were from the school.

But the story of their first league match in the mid-1980s is just as memorable as the most recent one in which they lifted the NAL trophy in Birmingham last August.

Bare in mind that their luck had finally arrived, as the club succeeded in qualifying for the league the previous year at the fifth time of asking.

“It was our very first league match and our coach broke down on our way up, somewhere on the M1,” Bush recalled for a publication to mark 50 years of UK league competition.

“I got off and ran across fields for around three miles to find the nearest town where I found a car hire firm. The only one they could give me was a Mini.

“I drove it to the coach and picked up our long jumpers and pole vaulters as they were the first events. We had the poles strapped to the top of it! We got there minutes before the long jump and pole vault.

“The coach then arrived just in time for the rest of the programme. We didn’t perform any different to if we had done a proper warm-up.”

Fast forward to 2021 and Harrow had never topped either the BAL or the UK Women’s Athletics League before the competitions merged into the NAL prior to the 2021 season.

They then finished second three times, but couldn’t quite break the dominance of Thames Valley Harriers, who enjoyed four consecutive seasons as champions.

“It’s been a long journey, we’ve taken a long time to get to this point, we’re very proud of it,” said Bush.

“Thames Valley have done very well over recent years, they were always going to be difficult to beat.

Bush’s team took TVH to the final match of the season in 2024, and at one point it looked close, but the team in blue just had too much international quality across the board, with the likes of Bianca Williams, Amelia Campbell, Jade Lally and Chris McAlister all featuring through the season.

But in 2025, Harrow have consistently made use of Great Britain stars themselves including discus thrower Nick Percy, 400m runner Poppy Malik and long jumper Alice Hopkins.

“We are very proud of everybody in the club – the officials, team managers – and especially the athletes who have been absolutely brilliant,” Bush added.

“It’s nice to think of Harrow as National Athletics League champions, it means a lot. It’s the best club in Britain and we’re very proud of that.”

For Malik, who made her senior GB debut at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn last March, taking part in each round for her club was a key part of the season.

“Athletics is primarily an individual sport, so to have those team environments is really important. It really gives you that extra edge competing,” she said.

“Also, to see people believe in you. Tony has been a massive support for us, so to perform for him and perform for the team is really special.

“I definitely want to give back to them. The best way to do that is by competing for them,” she added.