Priest running, winning again after recovery from severe beating

Published: 2006-03-23

NEW YORK (CNS) -- Less than a year after he was attacked and beaten by a gang of teenagers while jogging in a Bronx park, a New York priest is not only up and running again, he's racing, he's winning and he recently collected a top award of the city's premier running organization. Father Jorge Fernandez, a Colombian-born member of the Yarumal Missionaries and a parochial vicar at Our Saviour Parish, was honored in March by the New York Road Runners Club as the Runner of the Year in his age group. "Thank God, I recovered very well," said Father Fernandez. "I got a lot of solidarity and prayers from the people, and I started to run with more optimism and motivation than before the attack," he said. "I was running much better." Father Fernandez, 42, came out first among the seven runners in his group -- men ages 40-44 -- who were nominated for the annual Runner of the Year Award. To qualify, a runner must be a member of the New York Road Runners Club and have completed at least six fully scored races across a range of distances.

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