 After the preliminaries, he packed his sleeping bag suited
for earth's lowest temperatures and flew to the Arctic circle.
The marathon race took place on Buffin Island near the magnetic
north pole.
Nevio's next marathon was supposed to be on
the real geographic north pole, but the event was cancelled after
some participants decided it was not for them, and logistically
the cost
thus became prohibitively high.
Nevio's disappointment was even greater
because he lost the chance to plant the Istria S.C. flag on
top of the world. He then turned his attention to the other end
of the planet. He signed up for Antarctica race, packed the old
sleeping bag and "Istria" sign and flew south. The
rest is history (seen on the photographs below).
One of the few things Nevio finds time for
between work as vice president of Kerby Saunders-Warkol, Inc.
and running is helping the Club he helped found and put on the
way to success. Back in 1970's, during the purchase and
renovation of 28-09 Astoria Blvd., Nevio, then Club president,
would run (literally) to Committee meetings then run back home
to Jackson Heights.
Looking beyond active marathon running, Nevio
played a pivotal role in helping and guiding the first runners
from Istria at NYC Marathon of 1997.
To his delight and ours, Ivan Stanic and Robert Juricic
ended up first and third among the Croatian runners, and placed
extremely well in overall standing. Nevio's honorary statue in
the New York Road Runners Club and his charitable engagements didn't
take any time from his work with two runners from Istria.
Reprinted from:
- 40th Anniversary Journal, Istria Sports Club of New
York (New York, 1999)
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