Jack Fleming is having a busy fall. Last Sunday, the CEO of the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.)/Boston Marathon oversaw his organization’s Boston Half Marathon, with up to 9,000 runners.
Earlier this month in New York, Fleming, 56, ran the Abbott Dash To The Finish Line 5K in 18:55, and then completed the full 26.2 miles the next morning in 3:14:42. Three weeks earlier he ran the Chicago Marathon in 3:15:32.
Fleming’s performance in the Abbott 5K made him the winner of the Abbott World Marathon Majors Race Directors 5K Challenge. Okay, it’s not the Olympic 5,000m, but first is first no matter the level you’re competing at.
Photo courtesy Ted Metellus
“Chicago and New York were actually my third and fourth marathons of the year,” said Fleming. “We at Boston share a Bank of America sponsorship with Chicago, so that played heavily into my running there. Then I ran New York to show [New York City Marathon CEO] Rob Simmelkjaer and [NYC race director] Ted Metellus that their event holds an equally special place for me.”
“Running all of the Majors has crossed my mind. We’ll see,” Fleming said. “Every marathon is difficult, as it’s supposed to be. There’s no fooling the distance. I went out too fast in Chicago, a rookie mistake. At New York, I dialed into a smarter pace so I’d look good for a daughter spectating in the last miles on Fifth Avenue, and a son at the finish line.”
Fleming is not the only runner among World Marathon Majors race directors/CEOs. In fact, all seven have completed one or more marathons. No doubt this up-close view of marathon races helps them make important logistical decisions regarding their own events.
And The Fastest WMM Race Director Is…
The fastest WMM director is Wayne Larden, 54, of the newly minted WMM Sydney Marathon. Thirty years ago, when he was an elite Australian competitor, Larden ran 2:16:04 in his home country’s Gold Coast Marathon.
The New York City Marathon’s CEO Rob Simmelkjaer, 54, has an inside lane to the coveted Six-Star Medal, if that’s something the race directors are chasing. Simmelkjaer has finished four Majors already, including strong efforts (around 3:30) in Chicago, Berlin, and Tokyo.
But his biggest edge comes from the fact that he finished the NYC Marathon twice in the years before he became CEO. Chicago’s Carey Pinkowski and Tokyo’s Yasuhiro Oshima also finished their home marathons prior to becoming race executives.
No WMM director has completed their home marathon during a year when they were also chief executive. Not hard to understand why.
None of the WMM directors was faster at a younger age than the Chicago Marathon’s Carey Pinkowski. In 1975, as a high schooler in Hammond, Ind., Pinkowski ran on a team that famously included three sub-9:00 two-milers. He clocked an 8:56.2. Later, he got down to 4:01 in the mile.
After college, Pinkowski trained hard for several marathons, but always seemed to get injured a week or two pre-race. He jokes that he had more DNSs than marathon finishes.
However, in 1983, he managed to complete the Chicago Marathon in 2:20:48. Barely. He considered dropping out at 21 miles, but then realized “it was just easier to finish than to drop out, and have to make my way back to the start.” Pinkowski, now 67, became Chicago’s executive director in 1990.
Barrier-Breaking: From The Mile To The Marathon
London Marathon director Hugh Brasher never ran a sub-four mile either. But he is closely connected to the most famous sub-4 mile of all time, because his father ran in it. On May 6, 1954, Chris Brasher led the first two laps of Roger Bannister’s historic 3:59.4 mile in Oxford, England.
Chris Brasher also won the 1956 Olympic 3,000m steeplechase, and ran the 1979 NYC Marathon. Afterward, he wrote a memorable essay about the experience for The Observer. He became co-founder and race director of the first London Marathon in 1981.
His 1979 essay included this passage describing the NYC Marathon: “To believe this story you must believe that the human race can be one joyous family, working together, laughing together, achieving the impossible. Last Sunday, 11,532 men, women and children from 40 countries of the world laughed, cheered and suffered during the greatest folk festival the world has seen.”
Hugh Brasher, 61, took over leadership of the London Marathon after his father, and has a marathon best of 3:01:47.
The Berlin Marathon’s Mark Milde also took the reins from his father, Horst, who organized and ran the first Berlin Marathon in 1974. Mark Milde, 52, hasn’t run a marathon in almost 30 years, but he recorded a 3:14:20 in the 100th Boston Marathon in 1996.
Prior to becoming race director at the Tokyo Marathon last year, Yasuhiro Oshima worked for many years with the Japanese Athletic Federation and with the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee. Oshima, 56, has run a total of six marathons, four at Tokyo, and two in New York City. He has a personal best of 3:03:38, set at Tokyo in 2019.
Why Marathon Runners Make Great Marathon Race Directors
It’s believed that the World Marathon Majors series will soon extend to even more global cities. Cape Town and Shanghai are the leading contenders. Let’s hope that their race directors are also present or former marathon runners.
This doesn’t have to be a job requirement. After all, super leadership and organizational skills are the most important elements. But if you’re also a marathon runner yourself, you’ll bring greater commitment, understanding, and empathy to the job.
And those are qualities that help create a world-class marathon race.
References
Here are the marathon performances of the WMM race directors, taken from MarathonView.net, which has amassed more than 27 million marathon results from the last 100+ years. The data base is not complete, as it is impossible to find all results, particularly those from older and smaller events.
- Hugh Brasher, London Marathon
- Jack Fleming, Boston Marathon
- Wayne Larden, Sydney Marathon
- Mark Milde, Berlin Marathon
- Yasuhiro Oshima, Tokyo Marathon
- Carey Pinkowski, Chicago Marathon
- Rob Simmelkjaer, New York City Marathon
