Fordham Hall of Famer Dr. Norbert Sander Passes Away

Norbert W. Sander, Jr., Champion of New York Running, Dies at 74 (NY Times) | Only New York man to win NYC Marathon dies at 74 (NY Post) | Norbert Sander, NYC Marathon winner, Armory head, dies at 74 (lohud.com)
 
Bronx, N.Y. – Dr. Norbert Sander, Jr., FCRH '64, a physician who won the New York City Marathon and later helped transform Manhattan's 168th Street Armory from a chaotic homeless shelter into a world-class track and field venue, died on March 17. He was 74.
 
"It is with tremendous sadness and a heavy heart to inform that our dear friend Dr. Norbert Sander, Armory Foundation President and CEO, passed away on Friday," said Michael Frankfurt, Chairman of the Armory Foundation Board. "Norbert will remain a giant in the world of track & field. His tireless efforts and contributions to enhance both the sport and the lives of its student-athletes will live forever. We will miss him dearly. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends."
 

Dr. Sander was a key member of both the Fordham Prep and the Fordham University track and cross country teams while a student at Rose Hill, running with the university's 4xmile relay that set a Penn Relay record in 1964. He was also named the cross country MVP as a senior.
 
Following graduation, Sander embarked on a remarkable running career. A world-class runner at the master level, Sander won the 1974 New York City Marathon, becoming the first and only New York man to win the race. But what Sander was most proud of was what he accomplished at the Armory in Washington Heights.
 
For much of the 20th century, the 168th Street Armory had hosted indoor track and field events. In the mid-1980s, however, the building was closed to sports and fell into disrepair. It was used primarily as a homeless shelter, one that became increasingly overcrowded, unsanitary, and unsafe. Working with a group of friends, including Fred Lebow, then president of the New York Road Runners, Sander created the Armory Foundation. He lobbied city and congressional leaders, helped raise more than $25 million, and ultimately spearheaded the building's rehabilitation.
 
In a 2009 interview with FORDHAM magazine, he pointed to his own experiences running on the Armory's old wooden track—beginning in 1956, when he was a freshman at Fordham Preparatory School, and continuing through the early 1960s, when he was an All-American track star at Fordham University—as the foundation for the endeavor.

Track and field thrives in the building Sander reclaimed. The Armory is home to a six-lane Olympic-caliber track; the Millrose Games; the National Track and Field Hall of Fame, which was moved from Indianapolis to New York in 2004; and a learning center that provides educational and job-training programs for members of the community. Adults, student-athletes, and coaches have flocked to the Armory since track was reintroduced there in 1993.
 
"This is running central," Sander said in 2009. "We're day to day to day, seven days a week; that's our claim to fame. I see this place as a continuum—for elementary to college to masters runners—creating a lifelong connection to the sport. Running is for everybody."
 
Sander, who graduated from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1971, continued to work as a physician while leading the Armory Foundation. He maintained a family practice on City Island and specialized in sports medicine. Sander was inducted into the Fordham Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995

He is survived by his wife, Bridget; four daughters, Eva, Jessica (GSS '98), Emma, and Phoebe; and his mother.
 
There will be a wake on Monday, March 20, from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. at Edwards-Dowdle Funeral Home, 64 Ashford Avenue, Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.
 
The Mass of Christian Burial will be at Tuesday, March 21, at 9:30 a.m. at Monastery Church of The Sacred Heart, Shonnard Place in Yonkers, N.Y.