Congratulations to Tom Fleming on Receiving the Mercier Club's Monsignor Edward J. Larkin Award of Distinction

Congratulations to fourth grade teacher and varsity boys and girls Head Coach in cross-country and track and field Tom Flemming, on being honored by the Mercier Club as this year's recipient of the Monsignor Edward J. Larkin Award of Distinction. Tom Fleming, a native of Bloomfield, New Jersey, is an American distance runner; 2-time NYC Marathon champion '73, '75, outstanding coach and, exceptional motivator. Tom has been teaching & coaching at MKA for 18 years!

Tom didn't find his stride in competitive distance running until his junior year of high school. In 9 months of training he dropped his times down to a 4:26 mile and a 9:24 2-mile - a passionate track and field athlete was born. He wasted no-time in further honing his skills and taking those talents to Paterson State College (now the William Paterson University) in Wayne, New Jersey. While at William Paterson, 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.

Success wasn't only achieved inside the classroom for Tom. 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, New Jersey AAU three-mile champion in 1972 and AAU six-mile champion in 1969, 1970, and 1972; NAIA All-American in 1970 and Conference champion for four consecutive years. As a senior in 1973, Tom entered the Boston Marathon, and over the final 6 miles miles, picked up the pace to help him pass 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. Tom Fleming was inducted to William Patterson University Athletic Hall of Fame on April 11, 1980.

Tom won the 1973 and 1975 New York City Marathon when it was a hilly, four loop course in Central Park. He again finished in second place at the Boston Marathon in 1974, both times less than a minute behind the winner. His personal best marathon 􀅏of 2:12:05 was set at the 1975 Boston Marathon, when he finished in third place, another of his six Boston Marathon "top ten" finishes. Fleming raced a strong fifth place at the 1976 Olympic Marathon trials. He finished fourth at the famous Fukuoka Marathon, Japan in 1977, which was then the unofficial World Marathon Championship. Tom's 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. He broke 2:20 in the marathon 27 times. At one point, Tom held American records in the 15-mile, 20-mile, 25K, 30K and 50K distance events.

Tom was a National Distance Coach with USATF '91 - '97; Coach and Founder of Nike Running Room, the 3-time Women's USATF National X-C Team Champions '90, '91, '92. His coaching philosophy: "Developing a young student-athlete's full potential takes time for physical, mental and emotional maturity. The athlete must understand the coach's training paradigm and philosophy for athletic achievement. The athlete must have trust in their coach in order to get them to reach their athletic goals. Every student-athlete develops at his/her own rate ... as a coach, patience is a virtue!"

Fleming has recently been inducted into the USA Distance Running Hall of Fame '14, National Road Runners Club Hall of Fame '13. For twelve years, Tom was the meet director for the famous Sunset Classic 5 Mile Road Race in his hometown of Bloomfield, NJ. This race raises money for special needs children in the Bloomfield school system.

The Mercier Club said, "We were honored to present this year's Monsignor Edward J. Larkin Award of Distinction to Tom Fleming."