Nearly six decades later, marathons still give LI runner 'joy'

At 72, Paul Fetscher of Long Beach completed Sunday's New York City Marathon in 5 hours, 29 minutes and 17 seconds, a feat he described as “painful, but in a pleasant way.”

He called his finish time “awful,” as the winners of his age group beat him by about two hours.

However, for Fetscher, who said it was his 300th marathon, the race still gave him “joy,” as running has done for the past six decades, and he planned to celebrate with pizza and a beer.

“It’s taken me a lot of places, and I’ve done a lot of things,” Fetscher said. “Running has literally taken me around the world.”

Fetscher, who grew up in Franklin Square, said he began competitively running in 1959. He ran his first marathon in 1971 and has run 299 races of at least 26.1 miles since, including in Russia and Germany, he said.   His most notable marathon victory was the Long Island Marathon in 1977 with a time of 2:21:49. 

Mike Polansky, president of the Greater Long Island Running Club, has known Fetscher for 25 to 30 years. Fetscher is on the club’s board of directors.

“He’s a legend. He’s one of the pioneers of road racing on Long Island,” Polansky, 77, of Plainview, said of Fetscher.

He called hitting 300 marathons “an accomplishment for anybody, no matter how old they are.”

Fetscher said he has won six marathons. He helped organize what became known as the Long Island Marathon in 1973.

Fetscher, who works in commercial real estate, said he wants to inspire others to get out the door and run, describing the sport as a way to meet great people and stay healthy.

“The last 0.1 miles is the joy that makes it all worthwhile,” Fetscher said. “That’s how you feel going across the finish line: that I did it. A sense of accomplishment, completion and the relief that it’s just about to be over.”

By Rachelle Blidner

rachelle.blidner@newsday.com@rachelleblidner

Rachelle Blidner covers Suffolk County government, politics and breaking news.