Rhinebeck's Donnelly remembered for growing local running scene with showmanship, support
Most current readers of this column did not know or get to meet Bill Donnelly, who passed away earlier this month at 74. Regardless, he is an important figure in the history of road running in Dutchess County.
Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the running boom took hold — both nationally and locally. It was during this time (1979) that the Mid-Hudson Road Runners Club was formed — and remarkably is still going strong more than 40 years later.
Also during this time, Donnelly was the de facto P.T. Barnum of the local running community, especially in northern Dutchess. He was a gregarious presence, a promoter through and through. He organized races. He organized training groups.
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He even had a thriving business — Forerunner — that was the long-ago precursor to the modern Fleet Feet Poughkeepsie store. Forerunner had a home in the village of Rhinebeck. It was so successful that for a short time there was a second store on the Main Mall in Poughkeepsie (once again, this is an “old school” reference — younger readers may not even know what the Main Mall was!).
According to his obituary, Donnelly ran 30 marathons during that running boom era. The obit went on to say: “So that’s crazy. Billy also oversaw a running club in the town of Rhinebeck and ran multiple races and events for charities. It goes without saying that he was passionate about running and the health benefits it provided.”
My friend Eric Gross, a lifelong Hyde Park resident, got his start as part of Donnelly’s crew in 1982, when he said in his usual, sarcastic manner: “I turned 25 and was getting really old.” Donnelly organized a training group and a trip to the Montreal Marathon each year — Gross’ first marathon was at Montreal in 1983.
Do the math. Gross said he was “getting really old” in 1982; 40 years later, when his age now starts with a 6 instead of a 2, it’s actually coming to fruition. But here’s the thing: Eric Gross is still running, albeit much slower and much shorter distances than in those Donnelly days. He even had crazy running streaks, going more than 15 years without missing a day at one point.
Running has been an integral part of Gross’ recreational activities for the majority of his adult life. And he is quick to cite Donnelly’s influence as the reason he became a runner, a habit that has endured to this day.
Old-time runners like Eric Gross, MHRRC Founding Mother Linda Stow and others, are the few remaining that recall Donnelly’s outsized influence on the local running community. Along with the marathon training groups, Donnelly was integral in the organization of so many iconic and original events back in that running boom era, when there were multiple road races in the area on nearly every weekend.
The Labor Day Mad Dash thrived under Donnelly’s influence, growing to several hundred participants.
There was also the Beekman Arms Road Race, a 7.6-mile run that started and finished in Rhinebeck and went into the scenic roads of Rhinecliff.
He organized a New Year’s Eve run in Rhinebeck in 1983.
Gross remembers other events, like the Main Street Mile, the Route 308 mile and the Lions Club Journey for Sight 24-hour run — all in Rhinebeck.
Gross also recalls the 20-mile group runs, when such daunting distances were new to men and women like him. “He would always come back to the group,’’ Gross recalled. “His runs probably worked out to 22-plus miles. It was called ‘getting Donnellyed.’’’
Gross also remembered Donnelly’s announcement before each race: “Remember your pedestrian responsibility to insure runners’ safety.’’
My connection to Donnelly was not as direct as Eric’s, but his influence was strong nonetheless.
Forty years ago, back in the late summer of 1982, I arrived in Poughkeepsie as a scared and skinny cross country runner at Marist College. Unlike my teammates, all of whom had long high school running careers, I had just started running in my junior year of high school, so I was still new to many aspects of the sport.
Bob Mayerhofer was my first coach at Marist. Kind and compassionate, Coach Mayerhofer eased me and other freshmen into the running scene by having us participate in local road races along with cross country races on our schedule. Of course, this meant being at Donnelly-run events.
My recollection of that era was of a vibrant local running scene, races with hundreds of men and women, mostly centered around the Forerunner stores. Again, I was new to racing, so I didn’t even know that there was such a thing as “racing shoes.”
My first road racing shoes — the Adidas Marathon Trainers — were purchased at Forerunner in Rhinebeck, with Donnelly explaining to me about the importance of lightweight sneakers for races. My fastest marathons were run in those sneakers, and I still have them tucked away in some box along with other long-ago memorabilia.
Part of the great tribute to Donnelly in his obituary read like this:
“Life will now be a little quieter and there will be a little less laughter. The people that loved him will find a measure of comfort in the echoes of the good times. Those who met him will never forget him.”
More than four decades after he left his mark on the local running community, these words ring true. Donnelly’s passing, while sad, has made us old-time road racers pause to recall that grand era of local running — with a broad smile on our faces that Bill Donnelly surely would greatly appreciate.
Mid-Hudson Road Runners Club member Pete Colaizzo, the track coach at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, writes on running every week. He can be reached at runhed246@hotmail.com. For more club information, go to www.mhrrc.org
This article originally appeared on Poughkeepsie Journal: Rhinebeck's Bill Donnelly remembered by runners, helped sport boom
