The Race that is Set Before Us

Harry running the cross country v Charterhouse in spring 1961.

Harry Rycroft (1957, G) found his passion for middle distance running at Radley, and quickly began to set records. His particular love of running barefoot, and connection to the War Memorial Mile race, are part of a much deeper story.

Harry Rycroft spectating at the War Memorial Mile race at Radley in July 2022. Sixty years ago, on a cold January day, the school turned out together to celebrate the opening of their new cinder running track, funded by the College’s War Memorial Committee. Captain of Athletics, Harry Rycroft, then aged 18 and coming to the end of his time at Radley, opened the track by running a lap alongside the Olympic gold medallist and world mile record holder, Herb Elliot. The previous spring, 1961, Harry had run a mile on grass at Stowe in 4 minutes 37 seconds, an astonishing accomplishment by any standards but, unusually, Harry achieved this in bare feet.

This College record, as far as we can ascertain, still stands. Harry was a fitting student to open the track on behalf of the school, not only because of his stellar running career at the College, but also because he had come to Radley on a War Memorial Bursary. On the day of the track opening, the Chairman of the Council, Radley’s governing body, said of the War Memorial Committee:

“It was an inspired thought by them to have given the school such an amenity. No more suitable and visible token could have been conceived in memory of those who were cut off in the two wars, having won the race before age could weary them. They are an example to us, who survive, to run with patience the race that is set before us.”

Max, (6.1) D Social, leads the pack in the War Memorial Mile race, July 2022

Harry’s father, David Rycroft, seated on the far right, as a prefect in 1926.

Running around without any shoes is something that Harry remembers from his earliest childhood. He and his sister lived with their mother Cicely, on Chanonry Point, a small and remote peninsula on the north side of the Moray Firth. The area is known for sandy beaches from which it is often possible to watch bottlenose dolphins. Harry recalls long summer days exploring the shoreline, climbing up the lighthouse, and riding the family’s Shetland pony.

Writing in the early 1940s from North Africa where he was stationed during the war, Colonel David H Rycroft, Harry’s father, advocated to his wife that children should have bare feet in the summer. Sadly, in November 1944, when Harry was only 20 months old and perhaps taking his first unsteady steps, Colonel Rycroft was killed in action, having never met his son.

Harry was accepted to Radley, joining in 1957 on a War Memorial Bursary. Quickly, he found that he could outpace his peers when running over rough ground, such as moorland in CCF exercises. “For the first two years I was a complete nonentity and ran because it was the one thing I was reasonably good at,” he says in his notes from the time. As he became increasingly serious about the sport, Harry took up a book by Australian athletics coach Percy Cerruty, which was formative in his training. His records and notes from the time show evidence of stringent exercise regimes, a carefully planned diet, and incredibly sensitive reflections on his own mental fitness and that of the athletics team.

Harry’s greatest achievements at Radley include his 4:37 mile in 1961, and the cross-country v Wellington in March 1962, in which he beat the previous College record by 2 minutes. Throughout the race, he was closely followed by David Vere Hodge, a talented runner and school friend. This was Harry’s final year at Radley, and the race was clearly a meaningful one at the time he was running it. In his race report, he recalls, “I vaulted the gate and joined the road. At that point I was thinking that this was my last cross-country race. How sweet the air is up here. You must go fast down here. This is probably the last time you will come up here and among these pine trees. Take longer steps down here.”

On 1st July 2022, Harry returned to Radley to watch the second War Memorial Mile race, a yearly competition he conceived to celebrate athletic achievement, doing so in remembrance of the many ORs who fought in both World Wars. Slightly overcast, and with a strong breeze, the day was nonetheless a jubilant one as exams were over. It was the day before Gaudy, and spirits were high across the whole school. At the far end of Bigside a grass track had been painstakingly prepared and, before the contestants arrived, there was time for Harry to complete a quick lap – just to test the grass.

In ones and twos, runners of all ages arrived and started to warm up. Before long, supporters from Socials were lining the track, waving flags and cheering. In 1961, Harry had run the mile in 4:37, and he was waiting to see if any of these current Radley boys could beat his time. The starting gun rang out, and they were off. A valiant attempt was made by all the competitors, and an excellent time of 5:02 from the winner Max (6.1, D Social), but they all had a way to go to beat Harry’s time.

Harry declines the opportunity to give advice to aspiring young runners, humbly citing the profound difference the last sixty years have brought to lifestyles and sport at Radley. However, given the use of a time-travelling device, he says that he would go back and train the cross-country and athletics teams: “I’m sure we could achieve better results than we did in the 1950s and 1960s.”

Harry presenting the War Memorial Mile cup to Max, 2022 race winner