Bellmawr’s Jack Heath Publishes Book Honoring Running Legend Browning Ross

Ask lifelong Bellmawr resident and longtime Gloucester Catholic cross-country coach, Jack Heath, for a few tips on how to improve your time at your next race or mention that your IT band hurts sometimes, he’ll almost certainly preface his response with: “Browning Ross would say…” or “Browning Ross taught me…”

Heath recently published Browning Ross: The Father of American Distance Running, a book he wrote about his coach, mentor, and friend. Heath undertook the task of telling Ross’ story because as Heath says, Ross wouldn’t.

“I always wished Browning had written that book, but I knew he was too humble and too involved in the present and every facet of running to bother writing about himself,” Heath notes in the foreword.

Heath then added: “Browning was also too busy to write a book. He was coaching and officiating and holding races every week.”

As part of the “Great Generation,” Ross was born in Woodbury, graduated from Woodbury in 1943, served in World War II, was a two-time Olympian and won gold and silver medals in the 1951 Pan Am Games.

Ross played many sandlot sports as a child, but was most interested in running. With that certain “look” in his eyes, Ross used to run through the apple orchards of Woodbury. He started the Road Runners Club of America and published the Long Distance Log, the first national running magazine.

Ross was the first runner that Heath ever knew. The two met in 1974 when Heath was a freshman at Gloucester Catholic and waiting in a line to sign up for the track team.

Heath writes: “It was … eye-opening that Browning in his 50s, was still running and still faster than anyone on the team.”

Heath remembers team practices that involved running from Gloucester Catholic to the “new” Deptford Mall for sundaes at Farrell’s and holding javelins and pole vault cases outside of car windows on the way to meets. Heath also recalls the time he was left waiting outside of Ponzio’s in Brookawn when Ross forgot to pick him up.

SJO will be running a series of exclusive posts featuring excerpts of Browning Ross: The Father of American Distance Running.

The book is available on Amazon.