A soccer all-star and handball and racquetball champion, Sam Gratch started distance running at age 46. Twenty-two years later, he had completed 120 marathons, 21 of them the Boston Marathon. He was born in Pittston, Pennsylvania in 1924. Orphaned at age seven, he lived in the Girard College orphanage in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, until 1942.

From 1943 to 1945, he served in the U.S. Army Air Force as a physical training instructor and established an Army Air Force record of 2,151 consecutive sit-ups. After the service, Gratch came to Utica where he has served eight years as a recreational counselor and thirty-five years as a teacher of special education.

After completing high school in his thirties, Gratch went on to Utica College for a Bachelors degree and Syracuse University and Oneonta State for Masters degrees. At the same time, he played 13 seasons of soccer and won state level honors in handball and racquetball He has coached track and cross-country and officiated many soccer games and cross-country meets.

Sam Gratch's remarkable tenacity and friendly outgoing spirit have been an inspiration to many others, particularly the children he has taught. The city of Utica and Oneida County recognized this when they established "Sam Gratch Day" on Wednesday, August 8, 1990. As one official commented, "Sam Gratch's life is a come from behind victory."