Julio Zavala
by Amy Duquette
Many of us know him as the man with the megaphone who cheers us on during the last 100 yards of the
Prospect Park races, or the man who feeds us after the club races, or even as the jovial man with the
perpetual smile at the club dinners. But while PPTC member Julio Zavala maybe the best supporter our
members have, but he is first and foremost a runner.
As runners, we all have motivating factors that bring us to the sport. Julio can pinpoint the year and
circumstance that propelled him from a sedentary life to a life as an accomplished runner. At age 40,
Julio underwent surgery on his knee as a result of an arthritic condition. His doctor advised that the
best way to recover from the operation would be to find an exercise that he would both enjoy and maintain.
Imagine that, a doctor prescribing exercise as the best medicine! So Julio heeded his doctor's advice and
joined the YMCA of Park Slope. He took all the aerobic classes the Y offered and eventually began jogging
one slow loop of Prospect Park during his lunch hour as well. This combination proved to serve him very
well. His knee healed and gave him no further problems.
We all know how addicting running can be, and Julio became another devoted fan. Around 1983 he ran his
first 5K race. Julio doesn't keep track of the dates or times from his races, nor does he monitor his heart
rate. Julio just runs to run and enjoys it's simplicity. "When the race or the run is done, I don’t look at
the clock or nothing. I just go home." He remembers that his first race took place down 4th Avenue in Brooklyn,
"I didn’t know anything at all about running at the time," he said, "but I became hooked."
He also became fully absorbed in the aerobics classes at the Y. He had such a presence at them that the
administration asked him to begin teaching classes. He gladly took on the task and gave four extremely
energetic classes a week. One of these classes was for older members, those in their 60’s and 70’s. Julio
continued in this position, as well as acting as a manager of the entire establishment on the weekends,
until he was 55 years old.
In 1985, the staff at the Y gathered a group of interested members to begin a training group to prepare
for the marathon. Julio joined the group, followed through with the training and once again ran down 4th
Avenue in Brooklyn in a race. Only this time, he did not stop until mile marker 26.2. The feeling after
this first marathon "...was something," he said shaking his head back and forth embracing the memory. "It
was a high like you couldn’t believe. I felt so much energy."
Julio went on to race 30 marathons total. Four of those were races he ran escorting racers with special
needs. In one of the New York City Marathons, Julio ran with a blind man sponsored through Team Achilles.
They were tethered wrist to wrist to help the runner stay on path and keep his pace. Julio did the same thing
with a blind woman from China in a different race. He also helped a man from Japan who raced in a wheelchair
and yet another man from New York who had suffered an accident that left him with balance difficulties. "Running
has been very good to me so I decided to give something back to running." On top of charity marathons, Julio has
run the London marathon, The Rock N Roll marathon in San Diego, the Chicago marathon, the Air Force marathon in
Washington, D.C. and the Ronald McDonald marathon in New Jersey, his personal favorite.
The happiness Julio found through running is in stark contrast to some of the trials he endured in his earlier
years. Julio’s childhood and adolescence in Brooklyn was a bit scary to say the least. He was born in Puerto Rico,
but moved to New York when he was very young. He grew up with 12 siblings and half siblings. During these times
Julio belonged to the Police Athletic League where he played basketball and did some boxing but said, "That was
only to get me out of the house. I was not really athletic." His childhood memories include being attacked by
two German Shepherds and being hit in the head with glass bottle while walking on top of the Prospect Park wall.
He was also hit by a car and although he does not remember anything from this terrible accident people told him
"...that the car took me two blocks." While he and a friend were playing on top of a building, the friend caught
his eye with the edge of a metal rod. This incident resulted in Julio loosing that eye and living with a glass
eye for the rest of his life.
It was after the 2002 Chicago Marathon when Julio suffered another life-altering injury. Julio said he "...got up
one morning and just could not walk." Burdened with incredibly back pain, he went to his job. He was working as
a physical therapist technician at Long Island College at the time and was sent to the ER by his fellow staff
members. He had to have surgery on his spine and after healing, he eventually went back to running. However, pain
in his right leg, most likely from a pinched nerve in his hip, would continue to cause him pain and significantly
damper his running career. He currently gets pain killers injected that hold off the pain and allow him to run but
only up to one mile, after that distance the pain forces him to stop.
It's a sad irony that one injury brought Julio to running and another took it from him. But, when asked if he
feels disappointment about the unfortunate turn of events, Julio replies with a very genuine "No, I help others
out now. I volunteer a lot. I help out at so many races they have here in Prospect Park." Julio feels that running
has brought so much into his life. "I have met so many amazing people through running. It used to be very hard for
me to do things on my own, but if you can run a marathon, you know you can do anything after that. Nothing scares
me anymore."
He may have come to exercise and running later in his life, but at age 65, Julio still looks for challenges. Although
unable to run the distances he once covered, Julio is still dedicated to his Prospect Park track club. He also golfs,
swims whenever he can and has recently picked up Tai Chi. As we were walking through the park where we conducted our
interview, he pointed to the snow-covered grounds and stated, "Cross-country skiing, that will be my next hobby. I’ll
try that next."