Do you know the stories behind your old family photos? Although some might seem like simple family portraits, photos can tell all kinds of interesting stories and are great prompts for oral history discussions.

I have two photos taken by my grandfather of his son, my Dad, when he was competing at an athletics competition.

Dad’s first serious athletics experience was at the Auburn Marist Brothers school athletics carnival in 1965. He didn’t have much idea about running tactics, and no formal training, but was fit from playing football and running as a way of getting places.

In the one-mile race, everyone was encouraged to take part and as it progressed the slower runners would be cut at the end of each lap. Dad didn’t want to be one of them so he took off fast from the start and won the race by about half a lap in a school record time. He did the same thing in the half-mile, and went on to represent the school in both events at a combined Catholic schools athletics carnival at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

The following year Dad changed schools because Auburn Marist Brothers only went to fourth form (year ten). He went to Parramatta Marist Brothers High School for fifth and sixth form (years eleven and twelve). The school athletics carnival was held at Cumberland Oval, which is where the Parramatta football stadium is now.

Points were given to students for entering, and extra points were given for winning or placing in events. Dad won his age champion title because he entered almost every track and field event, and won the middle and long distance ones. He was so busy participating, he was late to the start of the cross country event which was held in the adjacent Parramatta Park. Although he started well behind everyone else, he still managed to win by a fair margin.

It was in a middle-distance race at that carnival, with about 200 metres to go, a boy running behind Dad tripped and fell when he clipped his heels. Dad instinctively turned around to help him up and they both bolted for the finish line. Dad just made first place.

My grandfather was extremely proud of his son’s sportsmanship in helping a fellow runner. Although Dad didn’t know it then, he’d acted just like John Landy who had stopped to help Ron Clarke in the 1956 Australian Mile Championship ten years earlier.

Following that 1966 carnival, Dad again represented the school at a combined Catholic schools athletics carnival at the Sydney Cricket Ground. It’s there the two race photos were taken by my grandfather. One just before the race started, and one right at the end. Dad was one of only two runners who didn’t have racing spikes and ran the race barefoot (you can see the other barefoot runner in the photos, too).

Anyone familiar with athletics will know the importance of the first and last steps in a race. If you don’t take off well, you’ll find yourself behind right from the beginning. And leaning forward at the finish line, also known as dipping, could give you the edge on a competitor.

In the one-mile race Dad made the most of his natural speed and enthusiasm, and although his foot wasn’t first across the line, with a dip at the end he won with a time he recalls as being under five minutes. Proof that dipping is a beneficial race strategy.

Dad’s focus in the next few years wasn’t athletics, however as an adult he spent a lot of time running to keep fit, entered plenty of amateur races, and regularly recorded personal best times. These days, the school races don’t mean much to anyone other than Dad, but they’re certainly responsible for a couple of ‘family famous’ stories.

Selected references

‘Landy Assists Fallen Rival And Still Wins Mile Race’, British Pathé, 21 March 1956, https://youtu.be/ozZyfM5l9ws.

Photograph of before the race, Sydney Cricket Ground, 1966, original held in private collection.

Photograph of the race at the finishing line, Sydney Cricket Ground, 1966, original held in private collection.

[private] oral history interview, digital recording, Canberra, 2024, original held by the author.