On a hazy, cool morning in lower Manhattan, the figure of a solitary runner moves rhythmically along the banks of the East River framed by the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. The river and the runner seem to flow on a daily parallel course.
For Joe Burns, running has been a transcendent endeavor involving mental and physical abilities. He has often proffered that running “is a great tool for life and good for your head.”
When Joe was a student at Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx in 1948, he discovered a passion for running. In his senior year, he became captain of the cross-country team, and in the school annals, it is said, “He’s faster than sound.”
The harmony of breathing, rhythmic strides, arms in reciprocating movement, and the ever-changing landscape lying ahead became a way of living before it became fashionable. Tying his shoes, Joe would set out from his home in Bogota where he and wife Pat and their eight children lived, and off he would run through the eastern Bergen County neighborhoods, over the George Washington Bridge and down to his job along the FDR Drive in Manhattan and back. He would do so without Nike footwear or Under Armour athletic gear—literally a plain Joe in his Modell’s clothes. Running was his glory.
Many people would observe Joe running through the streets and thought he must be either obsessive or crazy. In the early days, running was not chic, and fitness was disdained. Why would anyone put themself through the pain of something like that? They would not understand that for Joe Burns, there was only the thrill of the run. The pain was secondary, something that was endured and no big deal at all.
Others would run like Joe. There was Gary Muhrcke and Vince Chiapetta, John Garlepp, and the Olympian Ted Corbitt, to name but a few. These runners were among the first to participate in the first New York City Marathon in 1970 sponsored by the New York Road Runners Club in Central Park.
Unlike the current five-borough ING-sponsored race, the first 26-mile course was set out in the park by Corbitt, and it spanned several laps. The marathon was a family affair. Joe’s sons set up a stand and used garbage bags for refilling the station with water from a neighborhood church. His wife Pat and his daughters would hand out cups of water to refresh the participants. 127 runners entered that initial marathon, and 55 completed it. Murhcke finished first with a time of 2:31. Joe finished 9th, but on that warm autumn day, everybody won.
As running is integral to Joe’s life, so it is perpetually enmeshed in the experiences and memories of his family. As a young wife and mother, one of Pat’s most vivid recollections was the Boston Marathon…a challenging, rigorous race starting in Hopkinton through Wellesley, the approximate halfway mark, on to Newton and Brookline and the finish line at the Copley Plaza. Pat was holding another woman’s baby, as Joe “came dashing in triumphantly, strong and in great shape after the 26 miles. He spotted me with the baby, and not missing a step or a beat, grabbed the baby and me, kissed me, and shouted as he moved on, ‘I didn’t know I was gone THAT long!’ ”
Joe would go on to subsequent Boston Marathons and his best time at the Beantown classic was 2:45. Brian Burns also ran his first marathon in Boston and completed it at the age of 14.
One of Joe’s daughters, Liz, attended college in Washington, DC and went to see Joe and his teammates John Garlepp, Steve Grotsky, and others run a 36-mile race in Alexandria, VA. “I had the important job of carrying supplies, Hershey kisses, snacks, and toilet paper for Dad and his group. I followed them on my bicycle along a beautiful trail until the bag moved over into my wheel, and I fell over the handlebars. Somehow, these strong runners finished without their supplies.” Later, Liz would meet up with the group in a local restaurant. “When they sat down at the table with their medals and trophies, it was very exciting to watch the amazement and respect shown by the waiters who, the night before, had probably seen them as a group of guys who told tall stories. The whole event in Alexandria was a day that I will never forget.”
Joe’s son Ed, himself a marathon runner, recently attended a luncheon that reunited Joe with New York Marathon Champions Gary Muhrcke and Norb Sanders, as well as Garlepp, Grotsky, and several other veterans of the New York running scene. Ed observed, “NOT ONCE did I hear these guys talking about their running success or their fast times. But there was this feeling of love and respect between runners, as though they have been through the wars together and loved every second of it.”
The brotherhood of runners extends not only through the miles but also through the years. Ed and Joe recently bumped into Johnny Kelley, winner of multiple Boston Marathons in the 1950s and 60s. “He gave my father a big hug and asked how the gang down in New York was doing. I would guess that these men had not spoken or been together in 40 years, but they picked up where they left off, sort of like family.”
Joe Burns would go on to compete in hundreds of marathons. In 1975, he achieved his best time in Philadelphia at 2:41, and in 1977, his best New York at 2:43. Joe would run locally and in Paris, Madrid, Dublin, and London, often traveling to international marathons in the company of son Thomas and earning medals and trophies too numerous to mention.
At age 46, Joe entered the 1975 London to Brighton Race, a challenging 52.5-mile ultra-marathon that tested his athleticism and endurance over the rolling hills of the English countryside. He completed this in the impressive time of 6:40:21.
As one of the fastest and most respected runners in any age class, this remarkable man has continued to receive accolades and win medals, even as recently as a few months ago at age 82. Every morning he can be seen running laps on the oval along the Hudson River near his Edgewater home. With the running of the 42nd New York City Marathon this year on November 6, Joe Burns will be spending time observing, quietly cheering, and celebrating with his family. Remarked Ed, “The feeling of family among runners is something that a lot of us have also experienced, and I would consider it to be among the greatest gifts my father has given us.”
This article was originally posted on November 6, 2011.
