A book to honor
Browning Ross |
Updated October 2020,; Posted Aug 18, 2017
By Bob Shryock | For NJ.com
Jack Heath has written the definitive book
that chronicles the vast achievements of
Gloucester County's only two-time
Olympian:
"Browning Ross: The Father of American Distance Running."
The well-written and thoroughly documented
343-page book
is filled with anecdotes of Ross' long and fruitful career,
including his training
regimen, that was highlighted by his
appearances in the 1948 and 1952 Olympic Games
as a
steeplechase participant.
I'm proud to be included for writing an
obituary tribute to the
life-long Woodbury resident after his passing:
"Gloucester County Times columnist and
long-time friend Bob Shryock wrote,
'and while the hearse was
delivering legendary Browning Ross to
his final resting place, members of the
Gloucester Catholic High School
track team he coached so proudly jogged
alongside in a tear-provoking,
gut-wrenching tribute.
'"Heath had countless memories of his good
friend, and none more poignant
than the spring of 1998.
"On March 11, the South Jersey AC
running club held a testimonial dinner
for Browning that brought back many of
his friends. I was seated next to Browning
and when he accepted a plaque from the organizers my first thought was of the
hundreds he had won or had engraved to give out as prizes.
We coached track together that spring and
he called me on a weekend
in April to tell me he was officiating at the Penn Relays. He joked
about his upcoming birthday and asked I had time to pick out anything expensive for a gift.
"On April 27, my phone rang at home
and the voice identified themselves
as being from the Gloucester County
Times, said a brief apology, and asked
if I had a comment about the news that
Browning had just passed away. I was stunned."
Browning had died of a heart attack. And
the phone kept ringing in Jack's house,
all of the callers in complete and utter shock.
"Besides being a close friend,"
Heath wrote, "he was more than a mentor,
literally the sun around whom the whole South Jersey running world
revolved."
Said another running legend and close Ross
friend, Tom Osler: "I saw more grown men
crying at Browning's funeral
than I have anywhere else in my life. I was
much too grief-stricken to speak at his service."
The Gloucester Catholic track team dealt
with their grief by donning their track
uniforms after the service and
accompanying Browning one last time,
Heath wrote, running the mile alongside the hearse from the church to the
cemetery.
One of Ross' athletes, Sean McClenachan,
wrote a poem he called "An Ode to Browning."
It read, in part,
"Never was there a humbler man,
"No mention of the awards or the meets you ran,
"The people you knew, the lives that you touched,
"How badly we ran never seemed to matter much,
"In our hearts and minds, you'll always be number one,
"We'll be thinking of you each and every time we run,
"They're calling you now, call you by name,
"The angels know that they're running with fame."
More from Tom Osler: "His memory lives
on in those who were fortunate
enough to know him personally. No other runner has influenced me more.
Part of him became part of me, and I am
the better for it."
Browning was inducted into many halls
of fame, including Gloucester County,
Woodbury High, Villanova and the National Distance Running Class of 2002.
Heath's excellent book does him justice.
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