The Runners' Fan

Dick Litchfield '22 didn't run for Dartmouth as an undergraduate, but he's more than made up for that omission over the past four years. During the track and cross-country season Dick rarely misses a practice session, let alone a meet. In fact, he moves from his retirement home in Chocorua, N.H., to stay at the Occom Inn in Hanover from mid-January until the end of the track season.

And he's not just an observer from the stands. Dick can be found down among the men and women athletes, engaging them in conversation, encouraging their efforts. What's behind this unusual display of loyalty?

Shortly before Dick's wife of 47 years died after a series of heart attacks, she gave him some sage advice.

"She told me to spend my time with youth," Dick recalls. Since then he's found that the cameraderie he's built works both ways.

"If you're from Illinois or Florida or Oregon, you might be a little lonely, too, and you'd welcome somebody who'll come up to you and say/You're doing a good job,' " Litchfield explains. "I also say

'Has Dartmouth come up to your expectations?' I get so many men and women who say the school has exceeded them. That makes it all the more rewarding."