Doblin: Tom Fleming: a champion I would have liked to meet

A former Record colleague, Jim Wright, once told me if you show up at the Start Line, you’ve won the race. He was giving me some sage advice, guidance from a seasoned, accomplished runner to a novice. I was still relatively new to long-distance running, and Jim seemed to have come out of the womb wearing a pair of Brooks.

I had completed 10 marathons before I tore my lateral meniscus in the fall of 2015 while training for a half-marathon. Physical therapy. Surgery. More physical therapy. The injured left knee is now as good as new, but I have been severely hampered by iliotibial band issues in my right leg. My orthopedist told me it is not uncommon for someone who compensated for an injury in one leg to then have an issue with the other one. He said I needed “a tuneup.”

What I needed — what I need — is Tom Fleming.

I never met Fleming, the runner who won two New York City Marathons, the man who coached for years in New Jersey, most recently at the Montclair Kimberley Academy. He died Wednesday of a heart attack while coaching MKA at a track meet in Verona.

Tributes have been pouring in from students, colleagues and friends. If you want evidence of a life well-lived, clearly Fleming’s is a prime example. But as I said, I did not know him.

I have known people like him — men and women with a love of running long distances. My embrace of long-distance running was unlikely. I am not by any definition a natural athlete. I quip, when someone asks if I can play baseball, that my eye-hand coordination is limited to the successful use of cutlery. But in my early 40s, I started working with a personal trainer and he convinced me to start training for a half-marathon. By the time race day arrived, he had injured himself and I was on my own. And I was hooked.

It took a few years to jump from 13.1-mile races to 26.2 ones, but once I did, I realized I had found something that was both exhausting and exhilarating. I was never fast, like Fleming. I would never know what it was like to cross the Finish Line first. And my worst racing experience was in the New York City Marathon. I was poorly trained and should have delayed running the race for a year, but I did not.

Record Staff Writer Paul Schwartz reported this quote attributed to Fleming: “Somewhere, someone is training when you are not. When you race him, he will win.”

True words. But running, more often than not when you are in your middle years, is not about racing against other individuals, but running with them. There is a joy about breaking out of the tight cluster of runners at the start of a marathon and finding your pace, your rhythm. There is nothing as peaceful as the sound of your feet hitting the pavement mile after mile. You lose yourself and find yourself.

As I read the comments about Fleming, I feel that coming through. He must have been a phenomenal athlete to watch when he was in his prime. But clearly, he was that and more when he came to coaching. Running is one of the most low-tech of sports. The shoes have become something of a technical wonder, but in the end, it’s your body and your spirit that propel you from Start to Finish.

The coaches who challenge young people to push themselves to a place they never imagined they could see are extraordinary gifts. As I approach my sixth decade, I am still hoping to work through the mechanical issues that, at least for now, have prevented me from running even short distances.

There is a peace to be found pushing against pain, thirst and an ongoing mental conversation with yourself about “why the heck am I running 26.2 miles?”

The answer is: Because I can.

I wish I had met Fleming. He was clearly a champion long after running his last competitive race.

He died while coaching young athletes. As my former colleague Wright said, "If you show up at the Start Line, you’ve already won.” By all accounts, Tom Fleming didn’t know how to lose.

A champion to the end.

Alfred P. Doblin is the editorial page editor of The Record. Contact him at doblin@northjersey.com. Follow AlfredPDoblin on Twitter.