Joseph Ficcaro, the man who perhaps more than anyone else has made the Utica area prominent in long distance running, was born in Syracuse in 1921. He played four years of football and baseball for Syracuse's Central High School, graduating in 1940.

After serving three-and-a-half years in. World War II, he turned his attention to college, He competed in track and cross-country at the now-defunct Sampson college, and later at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, where he graduated in 1952 with a degree in civil engineering.

For some 10 years beginning in 1947, Ficcaro competed in ling distance running, including the Boston Marathon where he finished 51st in 1949, 19th in 1950, and 40th in 1951.

He began a 26-year career working for General Electric in Utica in 1952. In his spare time, he coached runners and promoted events that benefited thousands of local people. He founded the Utica Pacemakers Running Club in 1964, started the weekly Development Runs at the Parkway in 1970, and helped organize the annual Boilermaker Road Race in 1977.

Between 1964 and 1974, Ficcaro coached cross-country, track and field and junior varsity football, and set up an indoor track program at Notre Dame High School. He also coached Pop Warner football in Whitesboro, and cross-country and track meets.

Competitor, coach, official and promoter, Ficcaro has greatly enriched the area.