Bloomfield Native Suffers Fatal Heart Attack At Verona Track Meet: Officials

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — New Jersey lost one of its most beloved running icons, Tom Fleming, 65, when he passed away of an apparent heart attack while coaching a track meet on Wednesday in Essex County, school officials say.

According to administrators at Montclair Kimberly Academy - where Fleming served as a longtime teacher and track coach – Fleming died of an apparent heart attack while coaching his team at a meet in Verona.

The Bloomfield native was a two-time New York City Marathon champion and ran his way to a pair of second-place finishes in the Boston Marathon, MKA administrators said.

MKA released the following statement about Fleming’s passing:

“An integral part of our school’s community, Tom had been at MKA for 18 years, most recently holding the position of fourth-grade teacher and the varsity boys and girls head coach in cross-country and track and field… Tom groomed a number of the top distance runners in New Jersey in the last two decades, including three of the best in MKA school history. He said his greatest thrill was seeing his young athletes improve their times, distances and heights, and always striving to do the work necessary to be the best they can be.

“Tom’s prestigious career did not start in the classroom. He discovered his love of competitive distance running in his junior year of high school, when a passionate track and field athlete was born. Taking his talents to Paterson State College (now the William Paterson University) in Wayne, Tom would graduate in four years with a double-major in special education and elementary education, a feat he holds equally as important to his many athletic accomplishments. As a William Paterson Pioneer, he would become a Four-time NCAA All-American, received the Special Achievement Award from the N.J. Sports Writers Association in 1973, became a New Jersey AAU three-mile champion in 1972 and AAU six-mile champion in 1969, 1970, and 1972, named the NAIA All-American in 1970 and was Conference champion for four consecutive years. As a senior in 1973, Tom entered the Boston Marathon, and passed the defending Boston Champion Olavi Soumalaninen of Finland, to secure the runner-up spot with a time of 2:17:03. This would become the first of Tom's two second-place finishes at the Boston Marathon. He was inducted to William Patterson University Athletic Hall of Fame on April 11, 1980.

“Tom went on to win the New York City Marathon twice in 1973 and 1975. He raced a strong fifth place at the 1976 Olympic Marathon trials, and finished fourth at the famous Fukuoka Marathon in Japan in 1977 (then the unofficial World Marathon Championship). His other marathon victories include the 1978 Cleveland Marathon, the 1978 Toronto Marathon, the 1981 Los Angeles Marathon, and the Jersey Shore Marathon three times, with a course record in 1981.

“Tom was a national distance coach with USATF from 1991 to 1997. He was the coach and founder of Nike Running Room and the three-time Women's USATF National X-C Team Champions in 1990, 1991 and 1992.

“Most recently, Tom’s impact was noticed by the Mercier Club, which recently bestowed upon the MKA track mentor the prestigious Monsignor Edward Larkin Award during the North Jersey Catholic Civic Organization’s annual dinner.”

“Tom Fleming was a beloved teacher, coach, mentor and friend to many and this is gut wrenching news for the MKA community and for the running and track community as a whole throughout Essex County, New Jersey and the country,” MKA Athletic Director Todd Smith said. “Tom’s love for his sport, love for his athletes and love for teaching the next generation of runners was truly remarkable.”

"[Fleming] was an icon in the sport that he loved, and enjoyed coaching and mentoring young athletes," Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. said. "He was a very dear friend who inspired generations with his accomplishments. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family."

Fleming’s philosophy on running - as well as his ability to inspire as a coach – may be best encapsulated in this quote shared by MKA officials: “Somewhere, someone in the world is training when you are not. When you race them, they will win.”

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Photos: Montclair Kimberly Academy