Runners celebrate Fred Lebow legacy with NYC half marathon

Even after he survived Nazi occupation and World War II in Romania, Fred Lebow, a Jewish immigrant, kept running.

And running. And running.

It was Lebow’s passion for running that led him to take over New York Road Runners in the 1970s and transform the signature New York City Marathon into one of the biggest events in the world.

It was that same passion that led him to run his last marathon in 1992 at age 60 while in remission from the brain cancer that would end his life two years later.

“He wasn’t a good runner, but he loved running,” said Sarah Katz, 86, Lebow’s sister, and the last survivor of Lebow’s five siblings.

“Nobody thought he could do it. He was just in remission from cancer. He made it. My whole family was there. My whole family was crying.”

Runners expect a few tears to be shed at the New York Road Runners Fred Lebow Half Marathon on Jan. 22 in Central Park that is held in Lebow’s honor.

The race will weave through the park just days before Holocaust Remembrance Day on Jan. 27, and there is no one whose legacy can bring the two events together like Lebow.

Born Fischel Lebowitz to a large Orthodox family, Lebow grew up in Arad, Romania, during the Nazi occupation.

He and one of his brothers fled during the Russian communist takeover, and was separated from the rest of his family, including his sister Sarah, for 15 years.

After stopovers in Europe, Lebow made his way to the U.S., where he ran a nightclub in Cleveland before moving to New York and working in the Garment District.

Along the way he changed his name to Fred Lebow, although his sister still called him Fischel.

“He loved Lebow, it sounded very French,” Katz said. “He was a very humble guy. Very sweet He was a wonderful brother. I miss him tremendously. He was an amazing brother and a wonderful son to our parents.”

Despite running NYRR for 20 years and transforming the marathon to global status, the last thing he would have wanted is a race in his honor, Katz said.

“People thought he needed power,” Katz said.

“The only reason he needed power was to do the marathon.”

Lebow was actually an avid tennis player before he got hooked on running.

One day, a friend challenged him to a 1.6-mile run around the Central Park reservoir and he quickly became consumed with the sport. Lebow went on to join the New York Road Runners, an organization he would eventually oversee for two decades.

Ironically, Lebow, a marathon runner, never actually ran in the race he was best known for until the marathon he ran while in remission. With all the details he had to tend to, he just never had the time.

“He always wanted to run in his own marathon,” Katz said. “It was a very emotional time.”

Not long after that race, Lebow was inducted into the National Track Hall of Fame in a special ceremony, three months before other inductees were honored, because of his failing health.

“I’m flattered and honored, and I don’t deserve it,” he said in a whisper at the ceremony in Central Park. “I’m just a peon. I’m awed and embarrassed.”

Lebow wasn’t happy unless everybody was running, and that included his sister.

So, one year Katz signed up for the Fifth Avenue Mile, another event sponsored by Lebow’s organization.

“I walked. It took me 10 minutes,” Katz said. “He was very happy “