The Amazing Legend of Fredrick Gordon Remembered
Fredrick Gordon, Jr.
A true Buffalo legend crossed the finish line of life in first place last week. Fredrick Douglass Gordon (August 1, 1947 to May 7, 2024) is considered by many the greatest African American long-distance runner to ever lace up a pair of sneakers in the Buffalo area.
Frederick Gordon, Jr. was born in Albany, NY, the oldest of four children to Dr. Frederick D. and Mary P. Gordon. The family moved to Buffalo in 1950. Fred attended Buffalo Public Schools 74 and Bennett High School.
His mother was remembered saying: “Fred was slow to walk, but one day he stopped crawling and just got up and started running and never stopped.” From an early age he would run from home the four blocks to his elementary school and back, every day.
Fred attended Bennett High School where he excelled athletically and academically. He was selected to the All-High Team in Cross Country his junior and senior years at Bennett. He was later inducted into Bennett High School Athletic Hall of Fame. Fred was also an academic standout and attended the historic Howard University in Washington, DC, where he majored in Astronomy and joined the Track and Field team.
At Howard, he won several medals and conference championships in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association. While at Howard he once ran a world class 4:25 mile in 1978. Fred was also inducted into the Howard University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2018. After college Fred continued to run, specializing in marathoning. Fred competed in an amazing 13 Boston Marathons and was twice in the top 100 finishers (The Boston Marathon has on average 30 thousand qualifying runners annually). Only a very small percentage of competitors ever accomplish that feat and even smaller percentage of African Americans has done so. Fred also ran in 47 Turkey Trots. He was inducted into Western New York Runners Hall of Fame several years ago.
It was said Fred Gordon liked to run as much as the rest of us liked to breathe. This was a man who once ran 25+ miles one way from Buffalo to Orchard Park to compete in a 10K race, a training method he used at least two other times: Once when he ran to Lockport for a ten-mile race, then ran to Eden for a five-miler.
Fred’s other passion was Astronomy. He was a long time member of the American Astrological Society, and was an avid student of the constellations. He was fortunate to observe three total solar eclipses in his lifetime. It has been said he was almost a savant in his memorization of the constellations in the sky and the running times and placings of other competitors.
Fred was a member Central Park United Methodist Church and worked for the City of Buffalo Department of Public Works in the Water Department as a meter reader for several years The job suited him well as he ran between assigned meters.
Fred was my friend for the past 40 years. We took several long-distance bike rides together in the 80’s and I have stories of a man who was truly a rare human being who I consider the greatest man I ever had the fortune of knowing. God’s speed, Fred. I know you’re jogging with Jesus on the clouds now. I am a better person because I called you my friend.