Running world loses a legendary figure

Thanks to loyal blog follower and good friend Marty McGowan for passing along the sad news of the passing of John J. Kelley. Please do me and yourself a favor, and take 15 minutes out of your day to read this tremendously written remembrance of Johnny Kelley by Amby Burfoot of Runner’s World. You will get a much greater appreciation of the legendary figure and unique personality that was Johnny Kelley.

I cannot say that I knew Mr. Kelley personally, but I was in his presence many, many times at the race named in his honor. The John and Jessie Kelley/Ocean Beach Race each August in New London, CT, is an event I have done 22 times – more than any other race – in my running career. When I first ran the race in 1983, Mr. Kelley was still a competitive age-group runner in his early 50s. He continued to run the race well into his later years.

Mrs. Kelley was a fixture at the race named after her husband. She was a sweet woman who was kind and gentle to all of us runners. When she passed away in 2003, her name was added to the race in honor of her many contributions to the running community.

Although I did not know Mr. Kelley, the sense I got was that he was never really comfortable having a race named after him. He never seemed to want there to be fuss over him, despite his legendary status as one of the pioneers in American marathoning, and despite the countless lives he touched through his running, coaching and inspiring.

Again, please check out the link to Amby’s article on Johnny Kelley. You will learn a lot about an American running legend that maybe you had never heard of, or did not know much about.