PROFILE--George Hirsch has been running for 68 years

Historic photo of first NYC 5-boro marathon in 1976. Here,
Hirsch runs between the East River and FDR Drive in
 upper Manhattan.

(6-2019) George Hirsch is a true Renaissance man. He graduated magna cum laude from Princeton and received an MBA from Harvard, but never mentions either. He puts on no airs, and suffers none. In between the Ivy League schools, he served in the U.S. Navy. At 84, Hirsch can still run a 10:00-minute pace and afterwards do a Fun Run with his grand kids. He has lived a simple-but-productive and joy-filled life--one centered on people, passion, principle, and running.

Your profession/career: I was in magazine publishing (New York Magazine, Runners’ World) and am now the chairman of New York Road Runners. I was born in a New York Hospital and grew up in New Rochelle, a born and bred New Yorker. I was active and played many sports when I was young, but my sister who is two years older than me was the athlete in the family. When I showed up for playground baseball games, I just prayed