Member of the Month: John Oakley!

Bohemia Track Club standout John Oakley has deliberately emerged as one of the club’s fastest runners. Considering the time he spends as police officer, father, husband, coach and private investigator, it is remarkable that he has found time to improve as a racer of many distances. Hard-working and with highly admirable ethics, John’s determination and persistence have helped him succeed in many areas of his life.

Born in Brooklyn, John was raised in a tough neighborhood bordered by Howard Beach, Ozone Park and East New York, an area where, as he says, you were “careful where you walked”. Attending John Adams High School, he found himself unable to get into basketball games, but took advantage of the gymnasium’s suspended track and began looping the 18-lap-to-a-mile circuit instead. John was coaxed into running on a cross-country team that had no practices but still competed in Tuesday night dual meets at nearby Cunningham Park.

Through most of his high school cross-country career John trained by running three miles a day, and coincidentally, his three-mile race times consistently remained at 18:25. Frustrated, John increased the training mileage to ten miles a day during senior year and amazingly brought his race time down to 14:41, just ten seconds off the park record! He continued to excel and trounce the competition up until the day of the Queen’s Borough Championship at Van Cortlandt Park. With grit and determination John attacked the unforgiving course, but was eventually overcome by the severe hills and terrain. He staggered to the finish and left the meet a broken man. With school, six days of full-time work, and increasing asthma problems to contend with, John bypassed winter and indoor track and was to give up running for years to come.

Out of high school, John continued to put in a full work-week, but somehow managed to find time to attain an Associate’s Degree in Chemical Technology from NYC Technical College. Overwhelmed by two jobs and a three-hour commute to CCNY, John simplified by opening an airport cargo equipment repair business with a friend. Besides making good money with his airport jobs, John was given the opportunity to travel for pleasure all over North America. Around the same time he made a habit of frequenting dance clubs, often three times a week, and modestly admits that he “used to” be a good dancer.

A friend convinced John to take several police tests in hopes of starting a career in law enforcement. After taking the Nassau, Suffolk and New York City exams, the city was the first to respond, and off John went through six months of training. After graduation, and after just one day on the beat, John was notified of acceptance by the Suffolk County Police Department, and he turned in his NYPD gun and shield the very next day. He then survived a more grueling and rigorous seven-month training session in a sizably smaller Suffolk Academy class. As it turns out, the exercise and drills reintroduced John to running, a hobby he would soon resurrect.

Upon graduation, John patrolled solo in a police car through some tough areas of Suffolk County, gaining both praise and notoriety (from law-breakers) for his motivated assault on drug dealers and single-handed efforts in cleaning up communities. In 1992 he was moved up to plain-clothes duty, where he has been ever since. John now deals with misdemeanors such as petty larceny, harassment, domestic violence, prostitution and drug dealing, and believe it or not, states that he sincerely enjoys his profession.

Back at age 14, John had taken note of a young woman he often saw down at the local handball courts where he often played. At age 17 they began dating, but it took 13 years before John and Betty were to be married. They now have two very active boys, and John, with his varying work schedule, finds lots of time to play with the kids, and thinks being a dad is "great". In addition to his police work, John has also squeezed in some part-time investigative work for an agency that deals with high profile, less dangerous cases.

Back during his time at the Suffolk academy, John noticed an application for the Long Island State Parks Summer Run Series. Not even realizing that there were organized races in the area, he signed up, and began a training routine that took him quickly from a one mile jog up to a five mile race. Running his first race in a sweatshirt and sweatpants, his wife declared that he “looked like an idiot”, but he was back on the road (no pun intended) to racing again. At 200 lbs., a heavy coffee drinker, with high blood pressure and stress on the job, running came at a good time, as John slimmed down and coincidentally joined the Bohemia Track Club after speaking with founder Ed Schulte.

Spurred on by BTC members Jose Mendez and Rudy Afanador, John signed up for and ran the 1995 New York City Marathon as an NYPD running club member. Leveraging on his improving talent, John ran his fastest 10K time and a speedy 1:29 half marathon pace before “dying a slow death”, finishing in 3:26, and vowing (as we all do) to never run another marathon. Of course he went on to do several more, including the 1997 edition of the NYC Marathon, where he actually turned around and ran into the pack on the Verrazano Bridge to retrieve a mini-camera he dropped! He is also a Boston Marathon qualifier and finisher, having completed the 1999 race, and also ran a very well-paced 3:10 in the 1999 New York Marathon. Besides the marathon distance, John is an excellent runner at five (17:49 PR) and ten (37:37 PR at Cow Harbor, 1999) kilometer races.

Along with Long Island phenom Kevin Krause, John has occasionally traveled the country to participate in Police Olympics. In one New York State competition, held in Albany, he placed in such varied events as cross-country, 10,000 meters, track & field and even arm wrestling. He has also done well at Olympic meets in Salt Lake City and Nevada, and plans on attending the Co Co Beach, Florida edition this year.

Besides being a full-time dad in his free time, John also has been the cross-country coach for the boys and girls teams at Mercy High School for the last two years. He has captained the Suffolk County Police entry in the Ocean-to-Sound relay several times. He is also a real handyman around the house, having installed the insulation, sheetrock, cabling, windows and flooring for his new second-story addition. He also enjoys hunting and hiking on property in the Catskills, likes training on hills, and generally runs to stay in shape and balance his life.

Amazing to believe that John has time to juggle a career in law enforcement, part-time work, a growing family, and personal hobbies. Although running is a lower priority, John has managed to improve considerably of the past several years, and has twice been nominated as Bohemia Track Club’s Most Improved Runner. Whether in running attire or in plain clothes, it would not be a surprise to "run” into John Oakley, our latest Member of the Month.