DERRICK Burfitt was “the fastest junior athlete in Great Britain”.

These were the words broadcast over the loudspeaker to thousands of spectators as he broke the tape to become the first National Junior Cross Country champion.

That was in 1945 and he went on to win many more trophies for cross country and his favourite event, the mile.

His widow, Dorothy, reminded us of his enormous talent at athletics after we published a picture of him enjoying another of his hobbies, photography, on the Memory Lane page of our sister paper, the Witney Gazette.

It was only by chance that the young Derrick Burfitt took up athletics. He showed more interest in cycling as a teenager at Willesden Technical College in London.

Fred Ford, a master at the college and a member of Belgrave Harriers, began to train a group of boys for the college sports and Derrick decided to join them “for fun”.

Oxford Mail:

  • Derrick Burfitt and wife Dorothy leading fellow runners in training

Within weeks, he was running faster than anyone and breaking records. He joined the Belgrave club and by the time he won the national junior cross country championship in 1945, he had already clocked up an impressive number of first places in cross country and the mile.

He became the British junior one-mile record holder in 1946 and continued his success in the RAF, holding the RAF mile and cross country championships from 1947-49.

When his family moved to Witney in 1950, he joined Oxford City Athletic Club, a decision which brought an unexpected bonus.

He visited Oxford’s Dutch twin city of Leiden later that year and on a rough return Channel crossing, Dorothy Richardson, captain of the Oxford Ladies Athletic Club, was taken ill.

He cared for her on the boat, staying up all night with her on deck, then took her home in a taxi.

Within days of their return home, they were courting. They were married at St Peter’s Church, Wolvercote, in 1953.

After retiring from the track, Mr Burfitt took up timekeeping, but it wasn’t the end of his running career.

Oxford Mail:

  • Members of Witney Camera Club at their annual dinner in 1966.
    (L-R) Dick Hearsey, Derrick Burfitt, John Donnelly and John Turner

He competed in the first London Marathon in 1981, aged 53, completing the course in 3hrs 40min.

His father, Bill, had been one of the timekeepers at the Iffley Road running track in Oxford in May 1954 when Roger Bannister beat the fourminute barrier for the mile.

When the race was re-run in 2004 on the 50th anniversary, he timed it with his father’s watch and was delighted to find it matched the time recorded by the officials.

Mr Burfitt worked at Smith’s Industries in Witney for 40 years, rising to purchasing manager.

After being made redundant in 1990, he joined his wife as a learning support assistant at Wood Green School. Both also worked as swimming instructors in the town.

They retired in 1995 and moved to Rosemarkie, Scotland, but after Mr Burfitt’s death in 2005, the family persuaded Mrs Burfitt to return home to Witney.

Oxford Mail:

  • Dorothy Richardson about to break the tape at an event in 1951