An interview with Joe Miller

It has become the stuff of legend around the McCann Center – my senior awards banquet speech regarding Joe Miller (Class of 2018). I think the line that everyone – especially other head coaches – seems to remember is when I said: “Joey Miller could get pissed off at a beautiful sunrise.” Or something like that. Not far from the truth! A known hothead (although he admits most of the time it was all in good fun), a strong cold gust of wind could set him off. Or a mean stare. Or just about anything, even a nice morning. His rants in the racquetball court were the stuff of legend. Here in this Pandemic Papers interview, Joe attributes some of it to “short-guy syndrome,” being a feisty 5-foot-5 runner who needed to make his presence known – whether it be throwing elbows at the starting line or firing off swear words at his closest friends and his loyal but exasperated coach. During his time at Marist, Joe Miller made his presence known – and not just for his screaming matches with his teammates (and, sometimes, me!).

In my mind’s eye, I can still see Joe Miller grinding out hard workouts and hard races. He didn’t have the prettiest form, but it wasn’t too bad either. He didn’t have the longest legs, but he drove them to go as fast as he could. And yes, the sight of him hunched over a garbage pail – at BU indoors, most memorably, but even at practice venues on occasion – was a sure sign that Joey Mills gave us his 100-percent supreme effort. He probably told me the Bruce Springsteen “Born To Run”/free pizza story before (you’ll like it), but I don’t remember it and it’s hilarious to read about it here. And I could just hear him telling it to me in some random van ride, starting calmly but ending in a crescendo of (mostly fake) anger. Yes, he loved playing music I disliked in the vans. Yes, I forgot that he was a huge fan of the men’s basketball team when he was here, and we would see him often at those games, where he usually worked as an usher. And yes, guys like Joe Miller are so much part of the fabric of what we have tried to build here over the past 30 years. On one of my next walks, I’ll have to call him to catch up. He’ll probably yell at me for some tax loopholes I could have used (he’s a CPA now!) or over something related to sports … or, really, anything. He’s a heart-and-soul Forever Fox. Future road races better prepare for his post-race yacking! Thanks again, Joe, for doing this. Like all of these interviews, it was great fun.

How, when and why did you start running? Did you play other sports competitively before/during/after you started running?

I have always been a competitive person when it came to running and sports in general. During my elementary school days, I always made it a goal to be the fastest kid in the class or grade. Aside from running, I loved to play basketball and those were the two real sports I've done when I was younger. I joined the track team in middle school because most of my friends were on the team, and I was mainly a sprinter doing the 100m and 200m and long jump as well. After that first track season, I joined cross country only because my friend told me to. Those first couple of practices were absolute torture. I can still recall how sore my legs were the following days after practices and I hated having to run anything more than 2 miles. If it wasn't for my friends and coach encouraging me to continue, I probably would have quit. After some brutal first couple of practices, I started getting better at running longer distances and I actually ran some solid times as an 8th grader. I decided to stick with it and I started to see massive improvement and that's pretty much how I realized how much potential I had with the sport.

You had a successful high school running career at a school not normally known for that. Tell us about your training, racing, highlights and memories. 

I loved talking to you about my high school training because you always laughed at how badly I was trained. Seaford is a pretty small school and our team was small as well. I recall going to meets, seeing every team setting up their team tent, and then you had us trying to figure out which tree in the park had the most shade and then placed our stuff in the dirt. For the most part, I was really the only guy on the team who could really compete at a varsity level and didn't really have anyone to train with. I just figured if I go all out in everything I did I would see some solid results. As you like to put it, I trained like an idiot. I think my mileage was around 25-30 miles a week during cross country, having our longest run be 5 miles. During indoor season I think my max was 20 miles a week (we had a different coach for indoor). I would also do every run as hard as I could, even on easy days. It's honestly a miracle I didn't get any serious injuries throughout high school. There were practices where I ran so hard I'd puke (this also occurred every race and just became the normal for me, even at Marist). Despite this, I was still one of the best runners in my section. I believe I was ranked second in the section my senior year for the 5k and made it to the Federation Championships as well. One of my favorite racing memories was during the spring season my senior year. It was a normal Friday night invitational, but the school hosting made sure to have the mile later in the night under the lights. The catch with this race was that they would play the Bruce Springsteen song Born to Run, and anyone who finishes the mile before the song ends would win a large pizza. I think the song is like 4:24, so it is a challenging thing to do as a high school runner. Luckily, they started the song a few seconds after the race started, so I was able to beat the song and not only did I win the pizza, but it was the first time I ran under 4:30 for the mile! I also didn't get to eat any of the pizza because I was too busy puking on the side of the track and my teammates ate it.

Tell us about your recruiting process -- other schools you were considering and why you chose Marist? 

I didn't look at too many schools, I think I might have had three on my list. I didn't really know what Marist was until Zach Toner told me to come and check it out. I came up for my overnight visit after running the Federation Meet and I think we originally planned for me to stay for one night, but ended up staying for two nights. I thought it was awesome being able to stay for two nights, since I was able to meet everyone on the team and get to know them a little longer. I also thought the on-campus housing was amazing, staying in Gartland (before the renovations). I think one of the biggest draw-ins for me was that the team really seemed like a family, and I thought being a part of something like that where everyone has the same goal is really cool and something I didn't really have in high school. I also liked how you were straight-up with me, telling me which goals of mine were realistic and which ones weren't. It was pretty much between Marist and Adelphi, and I decided I wanted to go away to school and I'm really glad I made that choice.  

What was your major at Marist and how did you choose it? 

My major was probably one of the most exciting majors the school had to offer: Accounting! All bland/boring jokes aside, I actually took a couple of business and accounting classes in high school and some of my family worked in accounting so I knew it would be a good field to get into. I always make jokes about it, but I really do enjoy it. Accounting isn't just numbers like most people think. There's a lot of theory and problem solving in it and some people compare it as learning a second language! I was a little skeptical about choosing accounting as my major at the time, but I'm really glad I did! 

You had a strong training and racing career at Marist. Tell us some of your highlights and fondest memories of your four years as a Running Red Fox.

I could probably write a book on this, but I'll try to keep it short. Running for Marist was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. It was the first time I had a group of teammates that were all competitive and trained at a high level and I loved working together with all my teammates through the years all trying to improve. Coming in as a freshman I was really nervous, not knowing if I'd be able to handle the higher mileage and harder workouts. I remember all of that first preseason, I thought my Achilles was going to tear it hurt so bad, but I didn't want to say anything to you because I was too afraid you might sit me out for the season. Those first two weeks were truly a painful experience, but luckily the pain subsided and I had a pretty successful first season! One of the main highlights my freshman year was leading the Open Race at Paul Short for the first quarter mile! I think someone splitted me almost sub 60 for that (still ran my best 8k at that point!) I hated doing long runs at the time, but looking back, I honestly enjoyed doing those 13+ mile days being able to run and have a conversation with my teammates about the crazy stuff that's been going on. I also really loved the trails/routes we would go on, as it was nothing I'd ever seen before growing up in suburban Long Island. Same goes for the meets, I thought traveling everywhere, staying in hotels overnight was incredible. Not to mention the meal money, which I would spend most of it on Lotto Tickets and the Crain Game at Price Chopper. I also loved those van rides to the venues and I always made sure to get in your van so I could annoy you with my BS and play music you hated. Out of all the fondest memories, I'll talk about two of them. 

One is XC MAACs 2015 at Rosedale Park when we surprised the MAAC and placed 2nd. On the line before the race started, I look over to Jake Hensler and told him "If we get 2nd place, we're jumping in the lake." He shrugged me off and said "okay yea sure whatever." Well sure enough, we placed 2nd and the idiots we were, we stripped down to our racing shorts and jumped in the lake. Overall that day was awesome! The MAAC really has gotten competitive and to place 2nd in a tight field really was an incredible moment.

My other fondest memory is actually my last race! We agreed that during the MAAC Outdoor Meet, I would run the 10k ... for the very first time in my collegiate career. I thought it was a great idea because no matter how I did, I would go out with a personal best time! Not to mention, I wanted to enjoy every moment of my last race, so I figured picking the longest one would do the trick. I also ran a really solid time (I think it was like 32:02). and it was truly a great way to end my collegiate career!

You had a (well-earned) reputation of being a bit of a hothead with a temper. Do you agree with that and if so where do you think it came from? 

YEA ‘CAUSE EVERYONE ARE IDIOTS. ... Nah, I'm not as much of a hothead as I used to be. How did you put it during our Senior Awards dinner? I'd get angry even during a morning sunrise? I really thought that was clever, Pete. I think half the time I was just joking around. I believe it comes from being a short man. I'm 5'5" and sometimes the only way to get people's attention is to start yelling about something ... and also swearing ... a lot. I still have a really bad mouth, but I'll work on that eventually. All the yelling and cursing though really relieves all the stress I'm dealing with and I also used that to fuel me during races. I used to LOVE elbowing the s**t out of people on the starting lines of track races because like I said before, as a small man, you gotta get people's attention that you're there and not afraid to push back.

Tell us about your post-collegiate path -- you just got your CPA, congrats! 

Thanks Pete! So after graduating from Marist, I worked towards getting my CPA license. I was still a couple of credits short from meeting the license requirement, so I took some classes at a community college near me while working part-time at a local accounting firm. The part-time position ended up turning into a full-time position and I'm still there today! My official title is Staff Accountant, but I'm mostly an Auditor who specializes in Not-for-Profit and Governmental Entities (My least favorite class when I was at Marist!). Even though it was my least favorite, I think it's really cool to be able to help out Non-Profits since they all have missions to help others and I feel like we're working towards their missions as well when we audit them. I spent pretty much all of 2019 studying for the CPA Exams and let me tell you, those exams are no joke. Spending all of those hours preparing for something and making sacrifices in my social life was really a humbling experience and I'm just proud that I was able to accomplish something like this! I'm still new in my career, but I'm really looking forward to what lies ahead! 

You didn't graduate from Marist too long ago and still have close ties to the team. What messages have you imparted on our recently graduated senior class? 

Yes, I actually sent the graduating class a video message giving some tips! I guess some of my tips can apply to anyone so I'll lay two of my main tips out here.

My first tip is about the job search. It is definitely a challenge finding something after graduating, even more challenging to find something you enjoy, especially now with the pandemic! I would say to just keep pushing yourself and to not give up on the search. As long as you keep pushing, everything will work out eventually, and your first job will most likely not be your last so I always keep your options open!

My second tip is to stay in touch with your friends. It can be really tough staying in touch with everyone after graduating. Every now and then I go for walks around my neighborhood and I use that time to call someone who I haven't talked to in a while. I think this is a great thing to do because you might not know what's happening in your friend's life after not talking for a while and just having a conversation can brighten their day. It also helps with my day too! If I had a bad day, talking to someone really does make me feel better!

How has the Covid-19 pandemic affected you and your family? Where do you see it going in the short- and long-term? 

I've been working remotely since the middle of March and at first it was difficult, but it honestly has now become the new norm. It was definitely a struggle at first, since my firm was having some trouble figuring out how to best communicate with everyone, but everything now seems to be running smoothly, maybe even more efficiently. Long Island was one of the more harder hit areas, so I definitely do my best to stay at home and wear a mask if I go out somewhere if need be. I still live at home with my mom, and she works at the supermarket and goes in every day! She does everything she can though to make sure she avoids as much contact as possible with everyone. Wearing a mask, gloves, having a barrier between her and the customers, and also constantly cleaning the work station. Going forward, I can see most businesses implementing some kind of working remote policy. If done right, it can really be an efficient way to get work done! It's funny, we've all been saying we want things to go back to "normal," yet this way of life really has become the new "normal." It will definitely be a weird experience to go back to a restaurant to sit and eat!

What are your future plans -- career-wise and running-wise?

Well, I just got certified so I now have to think about what to do with my career going forward! I have some things in mind, but I'm still relatively new at my position, so I think it's a good idea to get some more experience before making any big decisions. I'm also happy with where I am, so I can't see making any drastic changes just yet! As for running, I'm starting to pick it up again as I had to spend most of my time last year studying instead. I applied for the NYC Marathon lottery back in February but wasn't accepted (probably a good thing since who knows what will happen with it!) I was actually thinking about running a marathon in May, but obviously this had to be put aside. Assuming racing will be a thing again in September/October, I would like to start training for a marathon for around that time. I only ran a few races after graduating, but I definitely want to start doing more!   

Anything else you'd like to add … 

Thanks for having me Pete! It was fun reminiscing on my time at Marist. I obviously have so many more memories I want to share, but I don't want this to drag on. I really do miss messing with you and the team and I hope things can resume for you by the start of the school year. I'm also surprised you didn't ask me about how much of a fan I was of the men's basketball team at Marist. Working those games and seeing you and your son were also great memories I had at Marist as well. Hope to continue to stay in touch and be safe!