George Hirsch has been the New York Roadrunners Chairman of the Board since 2005.  This non-profit $55 million dollar organization provides health/fitness programs for more than 100,000 children.  Their most prestigious event is the New York City Marathon which George was a founder in 1976 along with Fred Lebow.

After graduating from Princeton, George spent three years in the Navy based in Naples, Italy.  He knew then that he wanted to be involved in international business.  Upon returning to the states, he entered Harvard and graduated in 1962. 

He then worked at Time-Life International for five years but he wanted to do is own thing.  He started New York magazine which became the prototype for countless city and regional magazines.  He left four years later.

This is when he founded New Times magazine.  Even through circulation climed to 350,000, it was not making it financially and he ceased publication in 1979.  George was a serious runner and had been reading Distance Running News/Runner's World from the beginning.  He couldn't get enough.  He thought the category could use a second magazine and he started The Runner magazine in 1978 and published it until he sold it to Rodale Press in 1986 merging it with Runner's World.  

In 1987 Rodale hired George to be the worldwide publisher of Runner's World, the world's leading running magazine with editions in 12 countries.  He left in 2004 and became the chairman and Publisher of La Cucina Italiana, the English language editor of Italy's oldest and largest culinary magazine. 

In the middle of all of this, George was running almost every day and racing regularly.   Running some amazing times including a 2:38 marathon in Boston 1979.   He ran his last marathon at age 75.  After that race in 2009 he promised his wife Shay that he would not run any longer than a half marathon since he had fallen a few times causing concern.  In fact in 2003, George, then 69, collapsed 40 yards from the finish and fell on his face loosing part of two teeth.  He loves his wife more than running and decided to go along with her wishes.

George and I were tough competitors  for six years starting in 1978.  Neither of us really got to know the other.  I think this interview is the start of a new beginning for us.  We are now just two runners with one thing in common.  We love running.  Advertising revenues and circulation now don't have to get in the way.  (Interview by Bob Anderson)

Personal Bests: Marathon 2:38:54 at age 44, Sub 3 Hour marathoner until age 60, 3:25 marathon at age 69, 3:31 at age 71.

1. When did you realize you wanted to be a magazine publisher? 
I really kind of backed into magazine publishing. After serving in the Navy for three years stationed in Italy, I knew that I wanted to do something internationally. So I applied to some banks and other companies with large international businesses. In the end I took a job at Time-Life international for $9,000 a year and joined them after business school. There i found out that I really liked magazine publishing.

2. You went to both Princeton and Harvard. How did this education help you become a good publisher?
That’s hard to say. I was a history major in college and went to business school after the Navy since I felt that I really needed “a craft” of some kind. Like you, I became a publisher at a young age so a great deal of it was learning through trial and error on the job. 

3. You didn't start running until you were over thirty.  
Actually I ran the half mile and some mile relays in high school and college and was never good.  No one ever heard of fast twitch fibers back then although it was pretty obvious that I didn’t have many of them. Then after we launched New York magazine in 1968, I was working seven days a week and started running for the reasons so many people do: to lose a few pounds and to get fit. At first I would run three or four minutes as hard as I could. Then I slowed down and began to move up in distance. 

4. Did you love running from the start?
Not sure about “love it” but it definitely suited me. I kept a running diary from early on and enjoyed marking my progress. 

Photo below: George with Joanie in 1979

5. When did you run your first race?
Believe it or not it was the Boston marathon in 1969. I met Vince Chiapetta who was then the president of the New York Roadrunners Club one day while running. After that we used to meet and he told me all about Boston. I became intrigued and started adding to my mileage. Two friends of mine Andy Crichton and Walt Bingham, editors at Sports Illustrated, had run Boston the year before and they took me under their wing and showered me with advice before the race. Some very helpful; and some quite humorous in hindsight: "Do not drive out to Hopkinton (start of the race) on the course. If you do, you will not want to return by foot." I paid my $2.00 entry fee and joined up with a few friends at the starting line. I remember George Sheehan introducing me to some people, “meet my protégé, George Hirsch." 

6. When did you pick up your first issue of Runner's World(Distance Running News)? What did you think of it? 
I started reading Distance Running News shortly after I started running in 1968. I remember reading every issue from cover to cover as I was trying to figure out how to become a distance runner. Back then it was the only source of information on the subject so it was indispensable.

7. Was New Times your first magazine?
After working at Time-Life International for five years, I became the founding publisher and president of New York magazine which was really a new genre of city/regional magazines. I left Time in the summer of 1967 and worked on the launch: raising money, opening an office, hiring a staff, creating a financial plan, organizing a direct mail campaign and so on. We launched in April 1968. Our first issue just hit the newsstands when Martin Luther King was assassinated. It was a remarkable time to launch a magazine. LBJ announced he would not run for re-election and in June, Bobby Kennedy was killed. Under editor Clay Felker and with writers including Tom Wolfe, Jimmy Breslin and Gloria Steinem, the magazine became a “must read” for many people in and out of New York. The term “hot magazine” was not used back then but had it been, this would have been the hottest new magazine in a long time.   After leaving New York, I started working on a new national magazine called New Times which  launched in 1973. It was known for it’s strong investigative reporting on politics and the popular culture. In many ways it was a critical success with a loyal following but it never achieved financial success and I closed it in 1979. Many of the editors and writers went on to become well known journalists.

Photo: Launching The Runner with Bill Rodgers and Frank Shorter.

8. When did you start thinking about starting a magazine about running?  
I started planning The Runner magazine while I was publishing New Times. I worked with Fred Lebow, a very close friend, on the first citywide New York City marathon and it was following that first race in 1976 that the idea began to take shape. We were all rather startled by how successful that race was with 2,000 runners and significant media coverage. Bill Rodgers and Frank Shorter finished first and second and the first running boom was in full flight. You already had a head start with Runner’s World but I felt that there was certainly room for a second magazine just as in the golf, tennis and skiing areas. Frankly I also felt there were a number of areas where we could distinguish ourselves with longer form journalism, a clean, bold design and an emphasis on exciting photography.

9. Were you totally addicted to running at the time?    
Probably not quite addicted since I was running New Times and launching The Runner but I managed to run almost every day and to race quite frequently.

10. What kind of training were you doing then? and racing?     
I was running about fifty miles a week and building up to 60-70 miles before a    marathon. There were not many races back then but I certainly ran most of the Central Park races and one or two marathons a year.

11. How important do you think Runner's World was to the running boom?    
Runner’s World was critical to the first running boom. Outside of the Olympics and the New York and Boston marathons, the mainstream media showed little interest in running so Runner’s World was the place to go for news, advice and inspiration. I know that I read every issue from cover to cover.

12. Were you surprised when I sold Runner's World to Rodale?     
I cannot remember if i had any advance warning of the sale so I’m not sure.

Photo: 1986 in Central Park with Frank Shorter, Bill Rodgers and Fred Lebow.

13. When did Rodale Press contact you about being the publisher?    
I took a partial leave of absence from The Runner to run for Congress in New York’s silk stocking district on the Eastside of Manhattan in 1986 and, I believe, that it was during that campaign that we began talking. Bob Teufel, the president and CEO of Rodale was a friend whom I greatly respected. I recall that our early conversations were that the running category did not have a lot of generic advertising and that if there were only one book in the field, it could become a real success and very profitable.

Thanks George for sharing your thoughts with us. You have done much for running!
Bob Anderson 2/15/12 4:26 pm

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14. Was this a dream come true...being the publisher of Runner's  World?   
Actually I was quite uncertain about it since I had, in effect, been my  own boss for quite sometime and I wasn’t sure what would happen when I  joined a larger company. Rodale was known as a low key, high quality  company with great ethics so I figured it was a good bet.  

Photo: George running with Frank Shorter

15. What was the biggest challenge you faced at Runner's World?      The biggest challenge in all of these merger/acquisition situations is bringing together two different staffs and two different cultures. What made it much easier was that we were all runners.   

16. Was it hard to find time to run during all of this?      
No, not really. i would spend one or two days in Emmaus, PA every week and we would all go out and run at lunch time. I was the head of the New York office and I had showers installed in the office so people could run to work or during their lunch hour. In other words we made it conducive for staffers to run. 

17. As publisher of Runner's World, you met world record holders, race  directors, attended Olympic games, worked with presidents of running shoe companies, etc.  Was that really exciting?     
I really did enjoy it and felt fortunate to be in a business and a sport with so many terrific people. I was asked to do TV commentary for three Olympics and many marathons. It’s a fabulous way to enjoy such events. I also hosted a weekly  segment on ESPN’s Sportscenter that was actually a lot of work but added a nice variety to my life as a magazine publisher. I ran with Bill Clinton a few times while he was president. How special was that!  Many of my closest friends are runners, some elites and many mid packers like myself. Bill Rodgers has been quoted as saying, “I never met a runner that I didn’t like.” He’s got a good point.

18. Tell us about Grete Waitz?       
I first met Grete right after she won the New York City marathon in 1978 in a world best time. She was a good friend who despite her incredible success was always down to earth and humble. 

19. When did you get involved with the New York City Marathon?      
Fred Lebow and I were very close friends from the early 1970’s. We talked on the telephone virtually every day (before speed dialing) and so I was involved from the beginning when he began organizing the 1976 Five Borough Marathon.

20. Tell us about Fred Lebow and NY Road Runners.    
I believe I joined the club in 1969 and Fred a little after that. He was an irrepressible promoter who really found his life’s calling when he created the New York City Marathon. He was innovative, willing to take risks and a lot of fun to be with. We were both single back then and often went out together with women (“vimmen" in his heavy Romanian accent.) We traveled all over the world together and whether it was Rome or Marrakech, Fred never cared about sightseeing, museums or good restaurants. He just loved talking with and hanging out with runners, race directors and reporters. 

21. Some people were saying that they did not like the change in Runner's  World after it was sold.    
I’m not sure if you mean right after Rodale took it over or after I came in. One of the first things I did was have the magazine redesigned which always causes a reaction among readers. I’m sure there were naysayers but this was before Facebook and Twitter so you didn’t get that big a response. Nevertheless advertising and circulation continued to grow and the magazine became extremely profitable. Not the only measures but certainly important ones. 

22. Were you able to get in the training miles you wanted at this time?    
My running has always gone through cycles.There was a period in the 1980’s when I did not run any marathons at all for four or five years, and then I actually ran three of them in a four week period. Something i don’t recommend. But whether I was racing or not, I continued to run almost every day.  

23. How often were you racing and what kind of times where you running?      
Through the years I raced with regularity, often twice a month. I was never a really good runner but I feel that I managed to get the best out of myself over a pretty long period of time. If you keep at it, you seem to keep moving up in age graded competition. Some of the best guys my age have had to quit running due to injuries or have just moved on to other activities. MY PR in the marathon was Boston 1979 when I ran 2:38. Joanie Benoit and I met in the first half mile and ran together until mile 16 or 17 when she pulled ahead of me and ran down Patty Catalano (Lyons) for the win. Joanie was a college senior than and we have remained very close friends ever since.

24. Was your whole life running?    
Running has always been an important part of my life. Everyone in our family has done some running and three of our four sons have run marathons. Of all of us the one with the most natural ability is Shay. Running has been a big part of my career and certainly has enriched my life with all the friendships and the opportunities for travel. I’m sure it has been a major factor in keeping me in good health over all the years.

25. When and how did you meet Shay?    
Oh boy, that’s an incredible story.   Briefly we met the day before the New Jersey Waterfront marathon in 1988 at the Expo. We spoke for a few minutes and she told me she’d be running her first marathon the next day. Like all first timers, she said she just hoped to finish but then added that some day she’d like to qualify for Boston which meant a 3:40 for a 40 year old woman. I invited her to dinner that night and she declined my invitation. I was there for the Olympic Marathon Trials and the next day after the Trials began I went into the starting area of the people’s marathon looking for Shay.

With several thousand runners, I couldn’t find her so I waited until everyone crossed the starting line and began running. I hadn’t run a marathon in more than four years but I figured that I wouldn’t be out there very long. Finally at about five miles, I saw her up ahead. I came up to her and greeted her. She said, “what are you doing here?” and I tried to be very cool, “oh I was looking for you.” Anyway we kept running and talking until about 22 miles when she said she was getting too tired to talk. I told her that was the point of the marathon so we spoke a lot less and she crossed the finish line in 3:37.02 as I stepped aside since i didn’t have a number. The following year we got married.

26. Has she been your main support team?  
Without a doubt.

Photo: Berlin Marathon 2005 with Martin Gruning the editor of RW Germany and my sons Ian and Sean.   George ran 3:31 at age 71. 

27. You have run some amazing times over the years. 
I think by just sticking with it, my results improved a a lot as many of my age group competitors were slowed by injuries or just stopped competing. I ran my last marathon in New York two years ago at age 75 since I promised Shay that I would retire from marathoning after taking some bad falls late in a couple of races. I had run Chicago three weeks before New York. I was fortunate enough to win my age group in my last eight marathons. Four were majors including New York, Berlin and Chicago twice. The others were two Big Surs and two smaller races: Hudson Mohawk and the Mesa Falls Marathon in Eastern Idaho. I love these kinds of events with not many runners and a real hometown atmosphere. Every finisher at Mesa Falls got a thick blueberry milkshake.

28. The Half Marathon is getting to be more popular than the marathon. Is this a good thing?
Yes, definitely. It’s a distance that doesn’t require nearly as much training and is a good stepping up place for those wanting to do their first marathon.

29. Is a sub two hour marathon possible?  
It’s definitely possible but I don’t believe i’ll see it in my lifetime.

30. What are runners doing today that runners were not doing in the past?  
In the past most of the runners were in it for the competition and it was almost all men. Now there are so many reasons to run: getting fit, losing weight, reducing stress, meeting people. So many folks are happy to run a marathon to cross off their bucket list or put on their resume that it doesn’t matter that much what time they run it in. Jeff Galloway’s programs are extremely popular with their walking breaks at each mile mark.

31. What do you think about the entry fees for races.  The New York City Marathon is now up to $255.     
The higher fees really concern me. The problem is that putting on a major world class event like New York is extremely expensive. The New York Police Department has just raised it’s fees for the marathon by several million dollars.

32. How closely do you follow the running scene?      
I still follow it very closely through the web and magazines including Runner’s World and Running Times.

33. Will you be watching the Olympic Games this summer?         
Absolutely. I also intend to go to the Olympic Trials in Eugene.

34. Tell us about Cucinna Italiana?      
La Cucina Italiana is the oldest and largest food/cooking magazine in Italy. I became the publisher of the U.S. edition about five years ago. I hired a small talented staff and have thoroughly enjoyed helping the magazine grow in this country. Although I retired a year ago, I still go to the office to cheer on the team quite frequently.

35. What other interests besides running do you have?    
I love being chairman of the New York Roadrunners and am very proud of our events as well as our youth programs providing running and fitness for more than 100,000 children. Also I’m on the board of Salon Media, a really terrific on-line magazine. Politics is still a big interest of mine. Shay and I enjoy going to the movies and go once or twice every week.

36. How much are you running now?     
I run about one race every four to six weeks on about four days of training each week. I also lift weights and get on the elliptical or the bike about once a week. 

37. What has been your most exciting running moment?     
Oh that’s easy. Meeting Shay at the New Jersey Waterfront marathon in 1988.

38. How are you dealing with aging?      
So far so good. We have a very close family, a good number of friends, my health is good and I feel life is full of interest and surprises. 

39. What else do you want to do?      
See new places. Learn new things. Try to help others achieve their goals.