BRONX – He was an All-American runner as an undergraduate at Fordham who went on to compete all over the world. When his competitive days were over he became known as "The Godfather of Athletic Footwear," holding senior executive positions at Nike, Jordan, ASICS, Under Armour, and Reebok, as well as at Timberland and Merrell. And for Fordham track Hall of Famer Gene McCarthy, GABELLI '78, it all started with a Sports Illustrated magazine cover.
 
"I saw a Sports Illustrated cover while in high school with two runners on it and immediately knew I wanted to be a runner," said McCarthy to the students in attendance. "Not only did I want to become a runner but I wanted to run the fastest mile in New York City. That magazine cover helped me earn a scholarship to Fordham, something I could never have afforded, and later helped see the world. It was all because of that cover."
 
As he was approaching graduation, McCarthy wanted to break the 4:00 mile and penned a letter to one of the two runners who were on that Sports Illustrated cover asking for advice. The runner, Marty Liquori, suggested McCarthy move to Florida to train with him so McCarthy moved to Gainesville, Florida. Training with Liquori helped McCarthy run a 3:42 in the 1,500 meters at the 1980 Manley Games in Jamaica finishing third behind world record holders Steve Ovett of Great Britain and Filbert Bayi of Tanzania.

McCarthy used that story to stress to the students the importance of having a story when applying for jobs.
 
"There are two types of resumes: resumes and bad resumes," McCarthy said. "You need to punctuate your resume with your story. A resume gets you an interview. Character gets you a job."
 
McCarthy got his start as an All-New York City cross country star at All Hallows High School in the Bronx.
 
In 1973, at the inaugural MCXCI at Van Cortlandt Park, it was McCarthy who captured the first individual title in the event's first ever, varsity race. That season, McCarthy won all seven major races at Van Cortlandt, including the Eastern States and New York City Catholic Schools Championships. His best time was 12:23.8, which at the time was third fastest.
 
As a collegian, McCarthy burst onto the Fordham track scene in 1974 and quickly established himself as the Rams' premier distance runner.

In cross country as a freshman, McCarthy finished 50th out of 250 runners at the IC4A Championship, helping the Rams qualify for the NCAA Championship.  He was equally successful in track, running on the two-mile relay team that ran the third-fastest time in the world, clocking in with a time of 7:27.2 at the IC4A Championship, earning home All-America honors.  At the Penn Relays, McCarthy ran a 4:08 leg on the four-mile relay team, helping Fordham to a school record time of 16:24.3.  He also set the school record for the mile, posting a time of 4:05.

At the Penn Relays in 1976, McCarthy helped Fordham to a bronze finish in the 4x1500-meter relay with a school record of 15:12.2, while during the 1977 indoor season, he was a part of the distance medley relay school record .

In 1977, McCarty led the cross country team to a 9-4 record and a sixth place finish at the IC4A's, where he ran his best time of the season, finishing eighth out of 175 competitors.  At NCAA's, he helped Fordham place 24th in the nation.

At the 1978 Block "F" Awards Banquet, McCarthy was awarded the Terrence J. O'Donnell Memorial Award and later was inducted into the Fordham Athletics Hall of Fame in 1992. This fall he was also inducted into the Van Cortlandt Park Cross Country Hall of Fame.
  
McCarthy spent the first 21 years of his footwear career at Nike, where he became the Global Director of Sales and Retail Marketing for Nike's Jordan Brand. The collaboration with Jordan didn't start off well.
 
"When Michael Jordan retired he decided that he wanted to have his own brand, separate from Nike," said McCarthy. "But sales were slow to start and we were given six months to right the ship. We met with Jordan and I suggested that we cut distribution by 50 percent to make the brand pop again. Jordan didn't understand how cutting distribution like that would work but I stuck with my instincts and it worked."
 
McCarthy's professional career climaxed as the president and CEO of ASICS Americas. McCarthy recently wrote a book called "CHASING FOUR: A Personal History of Work and Play" which chronicles his journey from the Bronx to the boardroom.
 
McCarthy wrapped up his talk by stressing three principles to the students:
 
1) Don't try to be great at anything, be great at having great ideas.
 
2) Find a mentor and then be a mentor.
 
3) Never forget where you came from.