NY Flyers History - First Five Years (1989-1994)

Jerry F

In the beginning there were seven – seven charter members of the New York Flyers Running Club, formed in July, 1989. The club’s founding premise was to welcome, encourage, and support runners of all running abilities. I had never considered joining a club before, but the Flyer’s philosophy had an instant appeal to me…and, as it turned out, to many others. By year-end 1994, the Flyer membership had multiplied to 270 strong. Annual membership dues were only $5 initially, and were increased to $10 a couple of years later.

During the first 3 years, the Flyers were a close-knit group that socialized together, came to the Thursday evening group runs en masse, and travelled to the same out-of-town running and triathlon events. Favorite races were the Falmouth Road Race, the Cherry Blossom 10K, the Shelter Island 10K, and the Fairfield Half. Until 1993, Flyers gathered in the lobby of the NY Road Runners Club (NYRRC) prior to the Group Runs. This courtesy extended by NYRRC was of particular benefit during the winter months. Unfortunately, the group became large enough to disrupt the activities of the front desk, and we were asked to congregate outside.

My wife, Susanne, and I hosted the first three Marathon pasta parties, the 1990 New Year’s Eve party, and the 1992 holiday party in our apartment before the membership grew too large to fit. Twelve members (half of the club) ran in the 1989 NYC Marathon, and we arranged for three stretch limos to transport us to the start at Fort Wadsworth in style. In subsequent years, we arranged for buses to pick us up on E. 86th Street between Park and Lexington, which was conveniently in front of my apartment building.

E-mail, cell phones and the Internet were not yet a reality, so club communications and communications between members were more limited (and personal) – either snail mail, land-based telephone or face-to-face. The early newsletters were hand-written and envelopes were manually addressed. Within 12 months, they were produced using more sophisticated publishing software, with mailing labels generated from a member database. Once the membership approached 100, we organized newsletter parties to fold, staple, affix labels, and stamp the newsletters. Club meetings were held monthly in the library at the NYRRC.

Staten Island Half Marathon 1991

Many of the Flyer traditions of today originated during the first couple of years, including the Palisades Long Run, the Toys for Tots Volunteer Run, the annual Flyer awards party, the Last 10 Miles of the Marathon Course Run, and the Marathon pasta party. In 1993, the Flyers led one of the four NYRRC Marathon Long Training Runs, the success of which enabled us to become the established pace leaders for all of their long training runs from then on.

New Years Eve was a favorite event in the early years, with a pre-party prior to the 5-mile Midnight Run followed by a post-party gathering. A couple of years the Flyers wore a team “costume” to differentiate themselves from the thousands of other runners. We also had annual Spring and Summer pasta parties. The annual NYRRC 10K Bagel Run was also a major event. The Road Runners would reserve the Ballroom at the Hilton and host a post-race sit down breakfast. We would assign a couple of members to arrive early and lay claim to 2-3 tables in advance of the swarm of Flyers who arrived during the next half hour.

Another extremely popular event for the Flyers was the Tavern on the Green Breakfast Run. The run began and finished at Tavern on the Green at 7 AM (either a 3 or 5 mile course), followed by a buffet breakfast. Nothing better than socializing with fellow Flyers in the Crystal Room in running shorts and singlets!

Initially, Flyers attended Bob Glover’s NYRRC speed work classes, but soon we decided to organize our own Flyer Speedwork program. Classes were offered in four 12-week segments, similar to the NYRRC structure. Within 2-3 years, we converted the program to an annual calendar-based program to generate better participation, lower member costs, and simplify administration.

Another hallmark of the Flyers during its formative years was the focus on improving members’ skills and knowledge. In addition to speed classes, the Flyers sponsored a number of free clinics. One of the most popular was the Running Form clinic conducted by coach Cliff H. Cliff would videotape runners, and then analyze their form for the benefit of the group. There were also bicycle clinics, exercise clinics, swim clinics, and nutrition clinics.

Flyer apparel was a priority from the very beginning. Within the first 6 months, we had produced T-shirts with the original Flyer oval logo, and followed it up with a jacket. In 1990 we experimented with several one-off designs. The current Flyer red-triangle logo was introduced in 1991. It was professionally designed by a Flyer who was a creative director at Young and Rubicam, a prominent advertising agency. We emblazoned it on singlets, short-and-long-sleeve shirts, jackets, hats, running shorts and bras, sweatshirts, and hoodies. For the 1992 NYC Marathon we produced Flyer singlets, short-sleeve and long-sleeve shirts and hats. This was the first year that the graphic on the back of the singlets and shirts was designed by a fellow Flyer.

Flyer Logo on Shirt for 1993 NYC Marathon
(Krim L wearing Flyers Shirt and Steve B in blue hat)

Within the New York running community, the Flyers performed exceptionally well during the first five years, especially considering the size of the club. Paige P was chosen as the NYRRC Women’s Open Runner of the Year, Kathleen N was nominated for Women’s Veteran Runner, and the Flyer Men’s team claimed the top award in the B division once and came in second once.

The Flyers also became very active in the triathlon community. A significant number of Flyers became devoted tri-athletes during the Spring and Summer seasons. Their enthusiasm carried over to social activities and the creation of a Flyer tri-athlete newsletter.

Perhaps the most significant Flyer milestone during the first five years was the passing of leadership from the two co-founders – Tim K and Jonathon B – to an Executive Board nominated and elected by the members in an October, 1992 election. An equally important milestone was the adoption of By-laws to govern the operation of the club. In the six months prior to the election, a committee was formed to draft the new By-laws. The first draft was a 20+ page document that was both inflexible and overly-specific. Fortunately the newly elected officers chose to replace it with a 2 page charter providing more flexibility to deal with future issues. It was quickly adopted, and served the club well during the Flyers’ first decade.

Jerry F.

Blogmaster's Note:  Jerry joined the Flyers in August, 1989 as the 14th member.  He became membership chair in 1990 and was elected the NY Flyers first President in October of 1992 and served to February, 1995.  Jerry has served on the Flyers Senior Advisory Board since its inception in 1994, and as membership chair since 1995.  All NY Flyers owe Jerry a giant debt of gratitude! -Dave K.