Woodstock was built in 1873 by Mr Edwin Penfold, one of Australia's largest tobacco manufacturers. In 1914 it was sold to Mr Keep, who renamed the mansion "Broughton". The Keep family resided there until 1941.

The property was then transferred to Burwood Council for a short time until it was acquired by the Commonwealth Government in 1942 for use as Army divisional headquarters. After the war, the property remained vacant until 1949 when it was used as a migrant hostel until 1974.

In 1976 Sir William McMahon arranged a long lease for Burwood Council on the property and the council restored, renovated and converted it to the community centre it is today. It was officially opened by the Governor General, Sir Zelman Cowan on November 11, 1979.

Before his retirement from politics, McMahon the former Prime Minister and then Federal Member for Lowe, negotiated a sale, whereby the Council bought the property from the Commonwealth Government in April 1982 for $40,000.

The 100 square building set in several acres of land is home to at least 40 organisations and community groups. In an year, more than 80,000 people use its multitude of facilities. There are 5,000 members of the centre and at least 3,000 people who are members of groups who use it for their activities. It also houses the studios and offices of the radio station 2RDJ-FM.

The name "Woodstock" was derived from Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. The town crest consisting of an oak stump symbolised the "wood" or "tree-stock". Incidentally, the town of Woodstock in Oxford, UK has it's own running club, the The Woodstock Harriers (http://www.woodstockharriers.com).

Our logo depicts not just a tree stump, but the whole tree - in fact a Port Jackson fig tree of which there are a number in the grounds. The magnificent specimen in the car park represents "Woodstock".

The tree symbolizes "life and growth" contrast to the deadness of a stump. Woodstock is alive and growing because "Woodstock is people".

The larger roots signify Woodstock's history, the branches - the various groups and activities that make up the Woodstock community.

A meeting held at Woodstock on 22 August 1980, with Reg Seagrave representing Woodstock, and David Mollard representing the Department of Sport and Recreation, saw Steve Briscoe, Rohan Bray, Kerry Bray and two others decide to commence a jogging group.

We took off, very slowly, to run the mile course through Appian Way on Tuesday 26 August 1980, most of us stopping for a breather on the way.

Pressing on over the weeks and months we managed the 3.3km course, the 5.5km "Fun and Fitness" and eventually the "ultimate" - the Concord 10km, run by the guys only in mid 1981.

Other events:

1981 - the Sutherland to Surf saw our first team in a run (Steve Briscoe, Michael Bayles and Rohan Bray).

1982 - Sprint training at Concord Oval on Thursday nights.

3/3/1983 - Sprint training was moved to Campbell Athletic Field, Canterbury.

April 1983 - Woodstock's first victorious male team, in the inaugural South Strathfield Interact Run, consisting of Norm Hams, John Jessup

August 1983 - Our inaugural City to Surf internal team competition was held.

December 1983 - Our very first Christmas Presentation night was held, and the launch of the Year Book took place.

26/1/1984 - inaugural Australia Day Run was held from the home of Chris Siepen.

Mid 1984 - Vision of a Fun Run was born, and our official singlets, t-shirts & sloppy jo's were first available.

1985 - Commenced Saturday morning runs, from Brett Park, Drummoyne.

September 1985 - Initial participation in Burwood Festival Parade.

October 1985 - our First Internal "Run to Time" was held, over the Fun Run course.

10/11/1985 - the first Woodstock Runners Community Fun Run (10km) was held.

December 1985 - Kerry Bray was awarded the Club's first Life Membership.

1986 - Sunday morning runs, organised by Derek White, commenced.

November 1986 - Bronwyn Bickford & James Moran were recognised as the Female and Male "Junior Athlete of the Year" respectively, Our 1985 Fun Run was awarded "Best Fun Run of the Year" by the NSW Road Runners Association.

November 1987 - At the NSW Road Runners Association awards, Elle Cody (now Siepen) was awarded "Female Athlete of the Year", and our 1986 Fun Run took out the "Best Fun Run up to 15km", while the Club picked up the "Best Running Club of the Year" award.

December 1987 - Chris Siepen was awarded the Club's second Life Membership.

14/5/1988 - Michael Oakley organised our first Marathon Relay at Lidcombe - we completed our marathon in 2:10:32.

September 1988 - Our "Bicentennial Woodstock '10'" attracted a record 1,149 entrants.

28/1/1989 - A time capsule was sealed by the Burwood Bicentennial Committee. Contained within were photos, results, an entry form, poster and certificate from The Bicentennial Woodstock "10", as well as some historical facts about the Club.

Mid 1989 - Our first "Pack Run" was held, as was the inaugural "Woodstock Internal Relay".

23/9/1989 - Michael & Virginia Oakley organised our second Marathon Relay at Lidcombe.

Gerry Phipps and Lesley Maher organised our initial "posh" Breakfast Run, commencing with the hard part at Bondi, followed by brekkie at the Intercontinental Hotel.

28/10/90 - we were placed third in the Inter-Club Challenge.

9/6/1992 - we were registered as an Incorporated Association.

January 1996 - our 1995 Fun Run was awarded "Fun Run of the Year", as voted by the readers of "The Right Track". (This same award was also given to our Fun Run in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 & 2002.

1997 - Our website (www.woodstock.coolrunning.com.au) was launched.

December 1997 - Colin Townsend was awarded the Club's third Life Membership.

April 1998 - we entered two teams in the TAB 24 Hour Olympic Relay, with them finishing 3rd & 17th.

September 2000 - many of our members filled volunteer roles in the 2000 Olympic Games, the biggest group being at the 35km Aid Station in the Marathons.

17/4/2002 - We became affiliated with Athletics New South Wales, and our Constitution was formally accepted.

15/6/2003 - Our first team entry in an ANSW event - Nick Spasevski, Riccardo Benvenuti, Colin Townsend & Michael Davey came 11th out of 13 teams in the M35+ Road Relay Championships at The Crest, Bankstown.

July 2003 - Commenced Wednesday & Friday morning runs, from Leichhardt Pool, Leichhardt.

February 2004 - the Handicap Pointscore series commenced.

11/5/2004 - Dorothy Siepmann was awarded the Club's fourth Life Membership.

5/5/2005 - Online Memberships & Uniforms ordering launched with Register Now.

30/3/2007 - Our own domain name (www.woodstockrunners.org.au) was registered.

7/12/2008 - John Dawlings was awarded the Club's fifth Life Membership.