Our Presidents

  • Our Presidency began with Bob Muller. When I visited Bob recently to go over some of these details on the Club, he told me he still runs seven days a week. Bob was President for eight years and things were much simpler back then. Meetings were as simple as they come; you would meet at Park Circle on a Sunday morning, and Bob asked if you had any questions? Business, if any, was settled and you proceeded with your long run. The first roster was published in 1977 and PPTC had 57 members. This was a very competitive running group and no one under 21 was admitted as a member (the theory was anyone under 21 came with a parent!). This rule was changed over the years as all are welcome. By 1978 PPTC had 110 members.

  • Jack Stetch followed Bob and was President for about two years with a membership of approximately 325 members. Jack remembers the great Sunday long runs with friends with fondness. He felt Harry was a gentleman and he has encountered a lot of fine people through the club.

  • Henry Murphy Jr. (no relation to Harry but everyone called him Jr. Murphy) succeeded Jack. He had met Bob Muller and Harry Sr. (& Jack Stetch and Brian Sullivan) in the early 70's while he was in high school. After he graduated from HS (in 1973) he wanted to join the club, but was told that members had to be 21 years old, so they didn't have to deal with parents. Jr. Murphy has one of the original PPTC T-shirts with the stick figures on the front and Harry's artwork of the Brooklyn Bridge on the back.

    During the year that he was president, the Club entered races as a team and took 2nd place team at a 10K sponsored by "Olympic Village" in Long Island (Oceanside) in November 1980. Lenny "The Kid" Nemerovsky and Scott Pere (?) were on the team that day with Junior. We also had our first racing singlets printed up (red and white) to replace the old T-Shirts.

  • Regina Cahill served as President for four years, picking up where Jr. left off. In the spring of 1978, Bob Muller convinced her to come on a Sunday morning and run with the club. Two months later she was training for the NYC Marathon. Under Regina's presidency the club was incorporated as a Tax Exempt organization.

  • John Roselli joined in the summer of 1982 and became President after Regina and held this position for four years. During John's term, the post marathon gathering and marathon bus was initiated. John recalls the Sunday a.m. Yonkers long runs - leaving from Van Cortland Park subway station.

    The Club was boasting a membership of 300 at that time. John remembers training harder back then, with a solid and deep group of 3 hour marathoners / 37 minute 10Kers - including women such as Regina Cahill and not forgetting Debbie (Baren) Hill! who John says worked full time, was a good artist and a mom, held her liquor and her tongue and ran 3:21 in Yonkers (which was considered by many a tougher course than NYC) and 3:20 in Boston in the humidity.

    John recalls going over to Harry's place to talk about the "old days" - which was the 30s and 40s. Once coming off an injury, he decided to run a XC race at Van Cortland Park (apparently the course was not as smooth as we know it today). He decided to ask Harry how to run the race. This was apparently an uncharacteristic question for John and the results proved great - Harry said, " just go out easy on the flats and take off on the cow path and into the hills - no one will pass ya!"

  • As time passes, not all our friends are with us today. The late Lori Lopez served as president for two years after John. She passed away too young in December 2001. Lori will be remembered as a talented athlete, a friend to many and a good sport.

  • For a period the club did not have a full time President. However, during this time Mike Rieman served for about one year as President. Mike worked on the Newsletter committee and is currently locating some old newsletter material.

  • Al Goldstein became the President in the Fall of 1990 and held his position for six years. The club had approximately 75 members and grew to approximately 150 during this era. Cecil Burgin was the only other officer at this time. It was just as well that Al waited until he retired to take the position: he had a lot to do to keep the Club going. Al moved the marathon reception to a school close to the marathon finish and is the maestro of the event. During his term in office he began bringing his vegetable soup to the New Year's Day Handicap race, a tradition that continues.

    Al remembers 15 to 20 years ago nearly all members raced frequently and were medal winners in Central Park. He feels PPTC has been like a second family to him. During some difficult years, without the camaraderie of the Club and the running support of its members, he may not have stood up to some difficult times as well as he did. I have also visited Al's house recently and he has quite the collection of trophies himself not to mention a nice line of Pr's.

    Al is a member of the City College Hall of Fame, honored for his exploits on the school's basketball court.

  • Robert Fisher held the Presidential position from 1996 to 1999. and Bobby remembers how encouraging Harry was to train with, whether you were fast or not. Harry had passed away in 1993, a great loss to the club and running community. During Bobby's term:
    • We instituted the Board as a governing body.
    • The Club took over the old Road Runners Cherry Tree Race as a Club race only. Today, it is our winter race for the hard-core runner, attracting runners from the metropolitan area and beyond.
    • Spearheaded the Terrace Bagel run which has reinvented itself into the Prospect Park 10K and moved from the fall to the summer.
    • The Relay was born in 1997 as the centerpiece of the Club picnic and is a Club only event.
    • Around August of the 1998, PPTC went live on the Web. Our original webmaster Nelson Broat was succeeded by Louis Bueno in February 2003.

  • Anne Perzeszty, after serving as Vice President, became President in 1999.
    • The Club expanded its horizons by adding a menu of social activities.
    • PPTC lobbied for Harry's plaque to be moved to a better space near the wall named in his honor and its success was capped with an official Parks sign installed for "Harry's Wall".
    • The Harry Murphy Road Running Series Patch was initiated. The Patch was developed to encourage participation in Brooklyn races and to honor the memory of the legendary Harry Murphy.
    • Chris Boutross offered swim clinics to PPTC members.
    • Speed workouts coached by Will Abrams became a reality, helping members post PR's.
    • New warm-ups and singlets were seen on the roads.
    • An eyecatching tent help publicize a Club on the move.
    • The newsletter was redesigned and updated under the editorship of Crystal Bueno.
    • And PPTC actually became a track club at the Armory on Thursday nights when members took their running to the boards on the fastest track in the world.