Originally published by MileSplit NY

HASTINGS, NY - Dr. Norbert Sander (center), the CEO and founder of the Armory Track Foundation, passed away suddenly Thursday night. 

Nancy Haggerty, a reporter for The Journal News in New York, first reported the news. 

Sander, a longtime resident of Hastings, had successfully fought to bring back track and field to New York City.  He was also the last New York City resident to win the NYC Marathon, which he accomplished in 1974. He had been practicing medicine since 1971.

For nearly 25 years, Dr. Sander's efforts heralded The Armory as the foremost indoor track and field facility in the country, with over 125,000 athletes competing at the facility each year. Dr. Sander is the recipient of the 2014 Abebe Bikila Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Sport of Running and is the winner of a 2016 City & State Reports Outstanding Achievement Community Development Award.

When the Armory fell into a state of decline in the '70s and '80s, "Doc Sander" decided to rescue it.

In 1991, he formed the Armory Foundation and just two years later New York City agreed to give him the keys to his beloved childhood track. Today, the Armory Foundation is home to the busiest indoor track facility in the country, hosting over 150 indoor track and field meets each year. 

Close to 2,000 high school students practice at the Armory each week. Thanks to Sander's leadership, the Armory has become an anchor for businesses in the neighborhood and has been viewed as the lynch pin of the track and field community at large. 

"ArmoryTrack.com was a valuable and contributing member of the MileSplit Network from 2007 to 2010. During that time, "Doc" served as an unrelenting and unstoppable force for the promotion of the athletes who were in his universe. MileSplit was better for his support, and for that, we will always be grateful."

Don Rich
Former COO, Founding Partner MileSplit
Current Director of State Sites, FloSports