Running News Daily

The Many Gifts of Joe Kleinerman

Runner. Soldier. Coach. NYRR founder. Administrator. Advocate. Volunteer.Joe Kleinerman was all these things, and more. He gave so much to running and to NYRR. We run to celebrate and honor him at the annual Joe Kleinerman 10K

An Early Start in Running

Joe was born in 1912 in Spring Valley, NY, the youngest of four children in a family recently immigrated from Ukraine. He grew up in New York City and started running as a teenager after he and one of his brothers attended the Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden. Joe captained the cross country team at DeWitt Clinton High School, where he also ran track (half-mile and mile). During the summers he trained at Macombs Dam Park in the Bronx.He competed for City College, then won an athletic scholarship to Kansas State University. It was the mid-1930s, the depths of the Great Depression, and when Joe received a job offer with the U.S. Postal Service back in NYC, he could ill afford to turn it down. He returned home to take the job and would remain a Postal Service employee for 32 years. And he continued to run. Joe joined the Millrose Athletic Association and became one of their standout competitors, placing in the top 10 at the Boston Marathon 1941 and 1942 and running a best time of 2 hours and 38 minutes. In an interview years later he noted: “That’s 2:38 with sneakers, on dirt roads, and without any water stops!” 

He served as a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, including 19 months with the 599th Airborne in the South Pacific. He once placed fifth in a 1-mile race in Hawaii on a course laid out by another NYC serviceman also named Joe – last name DiMaggio. 

"Joe ran hundreds of races before injuries caused him to stop competing at age 53. He stopped running at age 70 but was able to resume light jogging after knee-replacement surgery in his 80s. 

From Competitor to Coach

Joe became the assistant coach of Millrose in 1958 and head coach in 1967. He enthusiastically recruited runners to Millrose, making the team a powerhouse, and was known to many as “Coach” for the rest of his life.At Joe’s memorial service, longtime Millrose runner and 1974 New York City Marathon winner Norb Sander recalled, “Joe was a great coach. He did not intrude. He didn’t criticize you. He was behind the scenes always to make sure that things went smoothly.”

Administrator and NYRR FounderJoe’s interest in working “behind the scenes” led him increasingly toward the administrative side of road racing. In the 1950s all competitive running in the U.S. was governed by the Amateur Athletics Union (AAU), which prohibited women from running distances over a mile, repeatedly failed to take a stand against racial segregation, and discouraged age-group competition. These regressive restrictions and biases frustrated Joe and other runners. In 1958 they formed the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) to administer road racing. 

Later that year Joe, Ted Corbitt, Harry Murphy, and about 40 other runners founded NYRR, then known as the Road Runners Club – New York Association. Joe served as NYRR’s vice president and secretary. He's pictured above with Corbitt and New York City Marathon co-founder Vince Chiappetta. He never sought the limelight, preferring to work behind the scenes. Joe directed and scored countless races and meets – a laborious and task in an era when all recordkeeping was done by hand. 

Advocate and VolunteerJoe also worked tirelessly to make running more inclusive and equitable. In 1967, along with Nina Kuscsik and New York City Marathon co-founder Vince Chiappetta, he successfully led a movement to allow women to run AAU-sanctioned races longer than a mile. Later he helped put together a U.S. women’s team for the fabled London-to-Brighton 52-mile road race in England – and saw a dream fulfilled when the women won the race. 

Together with Ted Corbitt and others he introduced “veterans” races for runners age 35 and older as well as ultramarathon (50K and 50-mile) national championships. As far as it’s known, Joe never received any compensation for his thousands of hours of service to running. In his old age he remained close to the NYC racing scene and to NYRR’s offices on East 89th Street, where the lobby was named after him following his 90th birthday. He loved to tell stories and to marvel at the growth of running and NYRR over the decades."I considered Joe the heart and soul of Road Runners Club – New York Association," said Gary Corbitt, the son of Ted Corbitt. "Many of the innovation the sport enjoys today were started in New York in the 1960s. My father felt that Joe put in more volunteer hours for the betterment of our sport than anyone else worldwide."

Joe died on Veterans Day in 2003 at age 91. At his memorial service, friends shared their memories of a man who lived large, his gruff manner belying a boundlessly generous spirit. “He barked,” recalled Joe’s Millrose teammate John Garlepp. “If you don’t get the bark, there’s something wrong, either he’s not feeling well or he doesn’t like you.”

Joe's niece, Ruth Kleinrock, said at the service, "Having an uncle who was so instrumental in the sport of running, especially women's running, is something of which my sisters and I will always be proud."Joe Kleinerman dedicated his life to running and creating opportunities for all. We’re grateful to him for it.