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Local running group Belle Watlings in 1978. From left: Dave Bogdan, Fred Gordon, Ralph Zimmermann (Hall of Famer), Tom Donnelly, Bill Donnelly, Robert Hertzog, Richard Sullivan, Norm Schwendler, and Paul Schwandt; last two unknown.
Courtesy of the BDRHOF
Because it is home to the oldest continually run road race in North America (the Turkey Trot), Buffalo will always have a place in running history. And now Buffalo’s running history has a (virtual) place of its own: the Western New York Running Hall of Fame. Tom Donnelly is president of a Hall of Fame board of directors assembled about two years ago from runners, coaches, writers, and race organizers. The group set about soliciting nominations from the public, eventually amassing more than eighty names. These were broken down into categories: runners (any distance 1,500 meters and up), coaches, and contributors. The members of the board—who otherwise might have constituted a fairly respectable first class of inductees—were not eligible.
From the eighty nominees, the committee ultimately pared the list down to an elite group of ten. All of them have had success nationally and internationally as well as locally.
John Beishline has run Western New York Finish Line Services for over thirty years, providing timing services for over eighty-five races a year. He was an outstanding runner before that. Mark Finucane is a three-time All-American cross-country runner, a four-time winner of the J. Y. Cameron Turkey Trot, and a two-time member of the U.S.A. Cross-Country team. Emory Fisher was the track and cross-country coach at UB for twenty-one years. Bob Ivor was the track and cross-country coach at St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute for thirty years. His guidance influenced generations of local runners. Jennifer Colgove-Martin qualified for four consecutive Olympic Marathon Trials, finished second in the 1995 Pan-American Games Marathon, and on the local level won the Subaru Four Mile Chase three times and the Turkey Trot twice.
Nancy Mieszczak is also a Turkey Trot winner—she won it in 1977, her first race. She went on to win 112 more races in open competition, including the Skylon and Charlotte Marathons. Don Mitchell was the founder of Runtime Services, and developed finish line software that allowed for fast, accurate computation of results. David O’Keefe was a nationally ranked cross-country runner in college, and represented the US at the World Cross-Country Championships in New Zealand. John Tuttle went from a career as an outstanding collegiate runner to a fourth-place finish at the 1983 New York Marathon and represented the U.S. in the 1984 Olympic Games. Finally, Ralph Zimmerman has been one of the area’s most prolific marathoners, setting age-group records, and qualifying for the 1980 Olympic Trials, despite not coming to the sport until he was into his thirties.
Tom Donnelly says that eventually the organization would like to have a brick-and-mortar presence, but for now the Hall can be found at wnyrunninghof.com. Nominations for next year’s class, which will have up to five members, are now being accepted.
Attorney William C. Altreuter runs yearly in a variety of WNY marathons and charity runs.
