Old habits die hard. Skip to next paragraph Enlarge This Image Hirsch, left, with the Olympic champion Frank Shorter in 1976. Poor health will keep Shorter from joining Hirsch on Nov. 1. Enlarge This Image Hirsch with Mayor Ed Koch at the 1984 New York City Marathon.
George Hirsch is 75. He is the founding publisher of New York magazine, he ran for Congress in 1986, and he has a personal-best marathon time of 2 hours 38 minutes (Boston, 1979). A founder and publisher of running magazines, Hirsch helped Fred Lebow plan the first five-borough New York City Marathon, in 1976, and is now chairman of the New York Road Runners, the racesaid Amby Burfoot, a longtime editor at RunnerBut in Albany, Hirschgate and decided they should talk. she said. this month, at 78, he ran a 1:37 half-marathon.
Last year, 174 finishers of the New York City Marathon were 70 or older, and 15 were in their 80s.Hirsch, razor thin with a warm smile, had always longed to be good at some athletic endeavor. he said. Growing up in New Rochelle, N.Y., he set up a high-jump pit in his parentsbackyard and spent hours trying to clear the bar, even though Shay Hirsch said. In his 30s, he took up distance running a sport in which Hirsch said. His grit served him as well in life as in running. Hirsch built The Runner and Runnerfor a race that he never intended to run. He surveyed the crowd but still had not found her when the gun went off. Hirsch said. She said, And I said, he wrote. Mary Wittenberg, the president and chief executive of New York Road Runners, remembered receiving that message. she said.In early August, Hirsch went for a long run and made it 17 miles.
He began to see some significance in numbers. It was the year of his 20th wedding anniversary and the 40th running of the New York City Marathon, which he last ran in 1994. As he took longer runs, Shay asked, He kept saying no. In September, though, Hirsch told her that he wanted to run one last marathon in New York. She agreed.Hirsch intended to run only part of the Chicago Marathon this month as his final long training run. He told friends he would go no farther than 20 miles. At Mile 20, he felt good and decided to jog in the last six miles. He finished in 3:58 without injury.Hirschsaid Rodgers, who has been friends with Hirsch since 1976. she said. “He doesn’t give up on people, either.”
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