For 20 years, Joe Martino ran the Bayside YMCA. 

As executive director of the popular branch, Martino was kept very busy with everything from managing the staff, to interacting with members, and even spear-heading the capital campaign to build a new aquatics center and renovate the fitness room.

Over the years, Martino would often share stories with the employees there, and now many of those same tales can be found in Martino’s first book “On The Run: Friendships and Finish Lines.”

Martino said he never planned to write a book — it just sort of happened. 

“The book was not a though,” Martino said during a recent interview. “… I would share a story with them (YMCA staff members) and they would say ‘You should write these down, you could write a book.’”

Martino did just that when the pandemic began.

“I never wrote anything in my life, and if I did, it didn’t get a very good grade,” Martino said. “I started writing and once in a while I would throw a story out on Facebook. It was getting this huge response.”

Martino said his stories were well-received, supplying him with encouragement to continue. He eventually contacted a former high school classmate who works as an editor, and she provided some additional support. 

“It was challenging all the way for me, because I’m not an academic person,” Martino said. “I struggled in school. I actually tell about it in the book, with issues I had, learning disabilities. But they were undiagnosed. I was walking around thinking I was a dummy.”

Martino worked through the challenges and eventually finished the book. He can clearly recall the day the finished copies of his book arrived at his home.

“When it really hit me was when the publisher, they sent three copies for review. And I opened the box. It was very powerful,” he said. 

Martino said he was especially touched by the strong reviews the book received. 

“I was so pleased that everybody was so supportive,” Martino said. “It became very rewarding.”

More about Martino 

While people in Barrington and across the East Bay know Martino as the YMCA’s executive director for two decades, many folks from his hometown of Greenfield, Mass. know him as a runner first.

Martino was introduced to running in high school and quickly excelled. He won his very first cross country meet. In his senior year, Martino went undefeated in every meet and set six course records along the way. 

Martino continued to excel after high school, and “On The Run” captures many of his running highlights, including the 1970 New York City Marathon. It was the first-ever NYC Marathon and Martino was one of just 126 competitors. He finished 13th. 

“Reflecting back on the NYC Marathon, who knew that 126 runners in 1970 would turn into 50,000 runners in 2017… and than $1 entry fee would rise to $295?” Martino wrote in his book. 

“On The Run” offers a glimpse into Martino’s running world and the people he met through the sport: he was friends with Bill Rodgers, who won the Boston Marathon four times and competed in the 1976 Olympics. (Rodgers also wrote the foreword for Martino’s book.)

Jacqueline Hansen, a two-time world record-holder in the marathon shared praise for the book also: “Every explosion has its ignition point, and the running explosion of the early seventies was no exception. Some will say it was Frank Shorter winning the Olympic Marathon, or Bill Rodgers winning Boston. But from where I stood, watching it all happen, it was a small-town high school kid named Joe Martino as much as anyone who ignited the art of running for the sheer exuberance of it…”

Martino ran 255 races in his career and finished first 96 times. 

Bayside family

In Barrington, Martino shined as they YMCA’s director. For 20 years he led the team at the Bayside YMCA and built many friendships along the way, 

On a recent morning, Martino stopped by the Bayside YMCA. He looked at the new aquatics center and the grounds that became his home-away-from-home for all those years.

“It was a great experience,” Martino said. “I got a chance to do all the things I always wanted to do. The biggest one was to fund-raise. We were trying to build a completely new Y… We had to adjust the plans. Some new some renovated. 

“It’s a stunning facility. Absolutely gorgeous.”