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Jerome Bruhm, known as the Father of Run Nova Scotia, was actively involved in the development and promotion of road running in the province from 1983-2003.

The son of Frederick Bruhm, one of Nova Scotia’s top runners in the 1930s and 40s, Jerome became involved in the sport first as a participant in the early 1980s, and subsequently as an organizer, administrator, coach, official, communicator, fundraiser, and mentor.

He founded Run Nova Scotia in 1983, renowned as one of the best provincial running organizations in Canada, and he is the only Nova Scotian to be inducted in the builder category of the Canadian Road Running Hall of Fame (1995) and the road running sector of the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame (2003).

His crowning achievements include ensuring gender and age equality in the prize structure at road races in Nova Scotia, establishing a provincial road running series that still lives on today, and championing the idea that all runners – not solely elite competitors – should be lauded for achieving their personal bests.

 

Annual Program

When people refer to you as “the father” of your sport and name events after you while you’re still alive, you’ve done something right.

Despite that notoriety, Jerome Bruhm was caught completely off guard when he got the call notifying him of his impending induction into the Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame.

“He introduced himself as being from the Hall of Fame and said ‘I just want to let you know you’re being inducted in the builder category.’ Well, I didn’t believe him and my first thought was ‘OK, which one of my friends is this, doing this to me?’ I just couldn’t believe that it was happening but it’s something that I never thought was part of my future,” said Jerome.

Twenty years ago, Jerome spearheaded the creation of Run Nova Scotia and since that time the paid membership in RNS has gone from 35 people to more than 500.

“When I first got involved, there was no organization for road running,” he said. “It wasn’t that (Sport Nova Scotia) was neglecting road running, but the person in the position for track and field didn’t have enough time for everything so that’s how I got hauled into it.”

In those days, the majority of runners in the province were from the Halifax area and Bruhm feels proud to have been part of the force that spread the word far and wide.

“My biggest claim to fame, I think, is introducing running to the recreational runner,” he said. “One of the things that I really worked on was the acknowledgement of female runners. Because back then, it was nothing to go to a race and have the male winner get a 10-inch trophy and the female winner get a three-inch trophy. So I made it a point that they both get 10-inch trophies because they were both winners. That’s one of the most satisfying things I’ve done, is equalize men and women in races.”

Looking back on a sporting career that has already seen Bruhm inducted in the Canadian Road Racing Hall of Fame (the second Nova Scotian at the time, along with only Johnny Miles, to be so honoured) he has few regrets.

“But I should have run more myself,” he said with a chuckle. “I would have liked to have seen every race in the province have 500 runners in it. And that is possible — it’s not an impossible thing to have 500 people go to Yarmouth and run, because there are enough runners around. I did open it up to recreational runners, but if you talk to a lot of people, they’ll say ‘No, I don’t run those races because I’m not a racer, I’m a runner.’ They feel intimidated because it’s a race, but I’d like to see everybody running in the road races instead of being intimidated. ”

Shortly after he learned he was to be one of the 2003 inductees, Bruhm made a visit to the Hall and looked at the plaque from last year. “I thought ‘My name’s going to be on here?’ and I realized that 20 years from now I’m still going to be excited about it,” he said. “I feel so wonderful that I’m still alive. It’s like going to your own funeral and hearing all those great things being said about you.”

Annual Program Courtesy of Bill Spurr