For Bob Denker, the RBC Brooklyn Half Is a Run Down Memory Lane

Bob Denker on the Coney Island boardwalk near the finish line of the 2024 RBC Brooklyn Half. Photo provided by MarathonFoto.

Robert (Bob) Denker is a lifelong New Yorker. “I’ve lived in four of the boroughs and went to college in the Bronx, so you can say I am truly a city boy as I’ve never lived outside of New York!” said Bob, 81. He’s been a member of New York Road Runners since 1976 and has run more races than he can count.

Bob spent the summer of 1958, when he was 14, selling Good Humor ice cream on the beach in Coney Island. “[The job] consisted of carrying a heavy insulated case full of orange-flavored ices filled with vanilla ice cream, along with slabs of ‘hot ice.’ I wore a pith helmet to combat the extreme summer heat,” he recalled.

Bob joined NYRR in 1976. Here he competes in a 10K in Central Park in the late 1970s.

He has run the Brooklyn Half at least a dozen times. “The old Brooklyn Half was run entirely in Prospect Park, and it was a boring race,” he said. Adding Ocean Parkway and Coney Island to the course “was a brilliant idea!” (Learn more about the history of the Brooklyn Half here.)

For Bob, the stretch on Ocean Parkway stirs up memories. As a young man, “I wound up dating girls mostly from Brooklyn,” he recalled. “As I run down Ocean Parkway you can see my expressions change as I hit a different intersection—oh, that’s where Brenda lived, that’s where Gail lived, etc.”

His wife grew up just outside Prospect Park and taught preschool on Ocean Parkway at Avenue P. These days, Bob texts her during the race “to let her know of any changes to those places.”

His most powerful memories often arise as he approaches the finish line in Coney Island. “It’s weird when I hit the boardwalk—I still get flashbacks of me selling ice cream!”

For his last five Brooklyn Half races, his daughter Susan has run with him. “Well—we start together, and then I see her at the finish,” he said. “She will be running again this year and hopefully we can continue our tradition for many more years.”

In recent years, Bob has run the RBC Brooklyn Half with his daughter Susan.

A longtime member of the Staten Island Athletic Club, Bob also has many NYRR Staten Island Half finishes under his belt. “I will continue to do both the Brooklyn and Staten Island [half marathons] as long as I can,” he said.

Bob ran the 2024 TCS New York City Marathon—his 13th—to celebrate turning 80, with Susan at his side throughout the five boroughs. He recalled, “Tears came to my eyes crossing the finish line arm in arm.”

You May Also Like:

RBC Brooklyn Half Advice: "Panic Is Not a Pace" and More Wisdom From NYRR's Ted Metellus

Running the RBC Brooklyn Half Will Bring Back Cherished Family Memories for Chasity Velez Navarro