Joseph P. Cook, built Phila. run

Joseph P. Cook, 65, of Philadelphia, director of the Broad Street Run from 1982 to 1995 and the man credited with building the race into one of the most popular runners' events in the country, died Friday, Oct. 16, of cancer.

Jim Marino, a friend and protégé and the current race director, said the 10-mile event was Mr. Cook's "baby."

"He brought it from infancy to the teenage years with great success," Marino said. "Now the Blue Cross Broad Street Run is the sixth-largest race in the country at any distance, in large part due to the great groundwork of Joe Cook."

Mr. Cook was a retired longtime employee of the Philadelphia Recreation Department, from which he also helped direct the Philadelphia Marathon.

He was never a runner himself due to shrapnel that became lodged in his legs during combat in Vietnam.

In May 1970, Mr. Cook was with the Army's First Battalion, Sixth Infantry, when the soldiers became trapped in a minefield near My Lai.

Norman Schwarzkopf, then a lieutenant colonel and First Battalion commander who would later become a general, rescued the stranded men.

"He landed and gave up his helicopter to get guys out," Mr. Cook later told Bill Fleischman, a sportswriter with the Philadelphia Daily News. "He and his captain stayed. Guys all around me were hit, and I didn't have a scratch on me.

"We went to two guys who needed attention, and all of a sudden a big mine went off. It killed the two guys I was patching and killed my medic. I had multiple shrapnel wounds of the legs, arms, and chest. Schwarzkopf got me out."

After spending nine months recovering at Valley Forge Military Hospital, Mr. Cook enrolled at Temple University. He graduated in 1975 and joined the Recreation Department.

Even though he gave up control of the Broad Street Run in 1995, Mr. Cook stayed on the periphery.

"He always kept an eye on me to make sure we were doing things the right way," Marino said. "I always appreciated his comments and critiques. These critiques continued to help me build upon his great work."

Mr. Cook is survived by three sisters; two brothers; and 29 nieces and nephews. Another sister died earlier.

Services were Wednesday, Oct. 21.

Donations may be made to Heroes Crossing Hospice Unit, Philadelphia Veterans Community Living Center, 3461 Civic Center Blvd., Philadelphia 19104.

bcook@phillynews.com

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