Member of the Month: Maury Dean!

Not only has Bohemia Track Club veteran Maury Dean achieved legendary status in the Long Island road-racing scene, but he also boasts the portfolio of a Renaissance man. Along with his teaching, literary, musical and family pursuits, he has assembled a running resume that includes an invitation to the prestigious Fifth Avenue Mile and rankings among the top racers in the country by USA Track and Field. Maury's long road from Michigan to Long Island has some interesting stops along the way.

Born in the Motor City of Detroit, Maury's "drive" for running might be traced to his high school years when he was "ticked off" at missing a varsity letter for his mediocre performance on an enormous cross-country team (he wasn't even in the team picture). To add insult to injury, he wound up being eleventh man on a ten-man tennis squad. He did make the grade at a Michigan State University party when spotted by a young woman while watching the Beatles' Ed Sullivan appearance. Maury and Toni were later married soon after Maury received his Bachelor's Degree in English.

While married and raising a family, Maury simultaneously pursued a graduate degree from Wayne State University and held a string of full-time jobs. He found employment as a civil servant for the Department of Labor, for the Neighborhood Youth Corps and the City of Detroit; as a vacuum cleaner salesman; as a Motown record songwriter (for one week); and as Vice President of Big Mack Records. He even pursued a career as a recording artist, and cut a few records as singer and songwriter for a post-Buddy Holly group named Maury Dean and the Night Shift. The band went on to become the Woolies and back up Chuck Berry in local appearances, and Maury went on to teach at Monroe County Community College- the beginning of a teaching career that has lasted 30 years.

Aside from writing songs- for which he has several published works- Maury also realized his love for writing novels. While obtaining his second graduate degree (this time from the University of Michigan), Maury decided to extend a creative writing project into a novel. His passion helped him win a Hopwood Award for Fiction and later become a published author with The Rock Revolution- one of five attempts for publication between the "reality" of rejection letters which has kept him closer to teaching.

To keep active, Maury picked up a swimming habit while on an internship at Miami Dade Community College, but in the brief Florida winter momentarily turned to jogging to avoid the unheated pool. He preferred involvement in furious badminton games with family and friends, and played on the Detroit Zoo worker's softball team. Noticing he inadvertently "joined Toni" by adding 25 pounds during her pregnancy, Maury sought a better way to keep trim. In 1973 a teaching job at Suffolk Community College (a position he's had ever since) brought the Deans to Long Island, and Maury wound up jogging around Lake Ronkonkoma several times a week. It wasn't until the first Earth Day (later to become Long Island) Marathon that he decided to try a serious race, but after falling asleep at a Ralph Nader speech following a long training session he realized that taking racing seriously was a silly idea.

It wasn't until six years later, in 1979, that he finally caught "marathon fever" and made it a mission to qualify for the Boston Marathon by age 40. He started running many marathons, often with Toni (herself an excellent runner, having won her age group in the 1985 LI Half Marathon with a 1:37 at age 41). Maury succeeded in qualifying for Boston with a 2:56 in the 1982 LI Marathon, but realizing that short distance was his forte he became a "dime-store" (5K and 10K) runner instead.

Realizing that Bohemia star Joe Cordero was in his own competitive age group, Maury slowly began "hacking away" at his times while picking up others' training techniques. Now with hundreds of awards to show for his efforts, the rest is history. Aside from his 16:44 5K PR at age 46, Maury also ran a 16:52 5K the day before a 17:07, burned a 27:50 5-miler at age 40 and a 35:06 10K at Aspire at age 47. More recently his 16:53 5K and 35:13 10K times rated him in the USA Track & Field's top ten national 50-54 year old runners. Maury recently blazed a 37:54 Aspire 10K (likely the first 55 year old to break 38 minutes in the race) and took first place in his age group at the LI Half Marathon. His smoking time of 1:23:25 is phenomenal considering he hadn't done a race over a 10K in the past three years!

Maury joined the Bohemia Track Club many years ago because of their easy-going attitude after having seen some of their "old guys" like Dave Penoyar and Bud Simone having a great time. Maury credits stolen tips from Ross Moore's training techniques for making him faster, and singles out Jose Mendez as being among the club's "greatest runners" not only for his comic relief but also for his ability to hold his times despite his age.

As well as his teaching English at Suffolk, Maury now also teaches a History of Rock & Roll class. By the way, Maury has passed on his musical talents to his son Jeremy, who plays sax and keyboards in the acclaimed Long Island band Nine Days. Although he considers teaching hard work, and works hard to be relevant, he loves his career choice and avoids thinking about retiring. He currently writes for the National Masters [Running] News having been a major contributor for Islandwide Runner during their heyday. Despite a busy schedule Maury maintains a typical 50 mile training week which includes runs between classes and grading papers, as well as excursions around Patchogue Lake (his own personal "Great Lake") with wife Toni.

Maury has a habit of collecting big American cars (his Motor City background)- having had eight at one time when the family was bigger, he's now tapered to four. He credits his dad as his "impetus to success." An avid golfer, his dad told him to "never run over 100 yards unless someone's chasing you." Maury's most fascinating was the 1994 Mt. Gordon Lion 5 Miler in Anchorage, Alaska. He received a Prospector's Plate as a second place overall award for holding off "Crazy Billy" and a pack of other Alaskans while climbing 800 feet to a spectacular view before re-entry, and all at an amazing sub-six minute pace.

A self-proclaimed "wheat and potatoes" type of guy (a long-time vegetarian) with an unusual diet, a runner with a distinctive "penguin" gait, Maury has done quite a bit to deserve the credit and awards he has earned. A scholar, athlete, competitor, and all-around terrific guy, Maury has once again received well-deserved recognition, this time as Bohemia Track Club's latest Member of the Month.