112 Millennium - A Marquis Who’s Who Magazine HOSPITALITY AND LEISURE Bill Staab has been running for most of his life. Now 86, he shows no signs of slowing down, recently winning his first gold medal in 30 years. Mr. Staab has been with the West Side Runners Club (WSX) in New York since 1978, serving as president for the last five years. It has been much like a second career for him, though the position is unpaid. He attributes his success in the role to his positive attitude and his love of meeting people from diverse backgrounds and socioeconomic circumstances. The West Side Runners Club was established when the local YMCA stopped hosting competitive sports despite having 350 runners. In his role, Mr. Staab organizes races both in and out of the country, but primarily in the New York and Washington, DC, areas. In 1980, Mr. Staab began working with immigrant runners, especially those from Ethiopia, helping them compete in races. His assistance includes providing them with visas, green cards, lawyers and asylum. He also arranges for runners to receive free hotel accommodation and transportation, even paying for their race entries so they can compete and win prize money. Mr. Staab has participated in a staggering 850 races throughout his running career. One memorable moment was finishing the Jersey Shore Marathon in under three hours. However, he considers his greatest career achievement to be building a strong team of runners through the West Side Runners Club, widely considered one of the leading men’s teams in New York City. Professionally, Mr. Staab retired at 68 after more than three decades as a general manager in international trading for Thyssen Incorporated (now ThyssenKrupp), an industrial and technology corporation. He also spent one decade with United States Steel International Inc. Over the years, Mr. Staab’s work took him across Europe, as well as to Brazil, Singapore and Japan, though he still managed the running team from these locations. He also spent two years in Liberia, West Africa, with the U.S. Peace Corps just after completing his bachelor’s degree in history and foreign trade from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, from 1963 to 1965. BILL STAAB PRESIDENT West Side Runners Club New York, NY
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