Globe Runner blog

In London this week, three British-born terrorists were found guilty of plotting to blow up a series of transatlantic jets, using seemingly innocuous household liquids, which would be mixed onboard, and triggered by camera batteries. In the aftermath of 9-11, it was the uncovering of this plot two years ago that has resulted in the liquid-search at airports and the like. So every time you curse when your bottle of water is taken out of your bag and binned, stop for a moment and reflect. Which is something my pal Vic Sailer has done a lot since 9-11.

Many of you will have seen the name of international athletics photographer Vic(tah) Sailer, and probably wondered how he manages to be in so many places in such a short time. But not many people will know that Vic was formerly a New York fireman, which he still was on 9-11.

Here, the day before the seventh anniversary of the defining moment of the early 21^st century, is Vic’s reminiscence of another NY fireman, Vic Navarra, who closely involved with the New York Marathon.

This is going to be the most brutal 9-11, as it will mark the first passing of my most beloved namesake and  running friend, Vic Navarra. I was first alerted to Vic when I read a story in the NYRR Magazine about another running Vic. This other Vic, a fellow FDNY Firefighter was the start coordinator of the NYC Marathon.

This was a very special man. He was the guy you wanted to be around, as he was engaging, easygoing, full of life, funny, and so much more. We became very very close friends over the years, and when 9-11 occurred, I encountered him at Ground Zero. He was happy to see that I was not among  the 343 FDNY Firefighters who perished in the Twin Towers.

Though Vic was retired, he spent many many hours away from his family as many other retired Firefighters did, since the FDNY had a tradition of helping our own and Ground Zero only multiplied this FDNY family. When I was contacted by Mike O’Reilly of the British 10km to help him create a fund for those 343 members  of FDNY, the first person I contacted was Vic. Whether it was starting the NYC Marathon or running himself, he loved it. Vic spent many many hours at Ground Zero volunteering as a retired member of the FDNY and was more than happy to help those who gave their all on 911.

Only weeks after the 9-11 disaster, I vividly remember Horst Milde, the race director of the Berlin Marathon presenting a huge “United We Run” banner to Allan Steinfeld, then the NYRR President,at the foot of the Verranzano Bridge on the morning of the 2001 ING NYC Marathon. I was thrilled to be given permission to rise in the bucket of L-85 to capture the image prior to the start of a race many thought would never occur.

I was very lucky to have Vic, Joe Miccio, a FDNY Delegate and member of my E-295 in Queens joined me to run the 2002 British 10km in London. In London, we were met, invited and hosted at 10 Downing St by British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wonderful wife Cherie. The Blairs took their time to explain much of their official residence, and also some English history to Joe, Vic and myself. I will treasure this experience forever.

Vic and I spent much time together, at the NYC Marathon, Elite Racing Events and in London. My wife, Lisa and I were deeply disturbed at seeing Vic after he  contracted some odd complications and had to have most of his skull removed due to cancer. We are very sure he had spent too much time volunteering at Ground Zero which was going to take him away from us and his family shortly. Vic, however was an optimist, and kept a very positive view.

Unfortunately, his and our optimism ended in December of 2007. I  was crushed. Here was a relatively young man, in his 50’s with lots of positive enthusiasm and a FDNY member who spent much of his time as a retired member trying to help recover those who had no idea what 20 psychopaths had  planned on a beautiful  September morning in 2001. As I listened to many of his closest friends and family speak, I learned more about this gentle, forgiving person who was a true hero. It made me think about what a  special  person he was. But I also remember one other  thing, he loved a good ice cream sundae at the end of a good day or not so good day.

I will remember him, at each  running race  and every 9-11, as he may never be counted as part of the FDNY 343 who gave their all, which is totally wrong. Lt. Vic Navarra, of L-140 gave it his all as he spent many many days at Ground Zero and  was taken from his friends, family and the running community by some kind of strange cancer.

I will enjoy my yearly Vanilla Ice Cream Sundae this Thursday, and I hope you can join me in remembering a truly wonderful human being.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 10th, 2008 at 6:46 am and is filed under Archive. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.