By Kathianne Boniello
Baysider Bob Torres is no Captain America, but don’t tell that to the people who halt their cars and honk their horns at him as he runs through Bayside wearing a large American flag like a cape.
Torres, a former marathon runner and 26-year resident of Bayside, takes up the unusual fashion-exercise routine on a monthly basis. Every 11th since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, as a matter of fact.
“Now I run for a better cause,” the exercise advocate said. “Now I make sure, no matter what the weather, every 11th I put on the flag.”
The postal worker, who has been running regularly since 1979, did not know anyone who died in the collapse of the World Trade Center but was touched when his daughter lost an acquaintance.
Torres is one of those New Yorkers who had no direct connection to the victims or World Trade Center but was nonetheless moved to act. Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the terror attack, including 343 firefighters and 23 police officers.
“What could I do? What I do best is running,” he said. “I do it to show my respect for the people who passed on, especially those who tried to help the others, like the firefighters and the EMS.”
During his patriotic ritual, Torres, 54, runs for 110 minutes, or a minute for each collapsed floor of the Twin Towers. His path takes him through Bayside to Fort Totten, where he turns around and runs back via the waterfront pedestrian path near the Cross Island Parkway. Torres works for the U.S. Postal Service in Flushing.
When drivers see the tall, thin Torres in his bright blue Superman shirt and waving American flag, they definitely notice, he said.
“They stop traffic for me,” he said with a bit of surprise. “The people really acknowledge it and salute it.”
A former marathon runner who participated in the New York Marathon for about five years, Torres finished in the top 500 several times, he said. He stopped taking part in the marathon in 1989.
Running past a schoolyard full of children often brings the loudest reaction, Torres said.
“When I go by the schools, the kids are so cute,” he said. “They run up and say ‘Captain America! Aren’t you supposed to be flying?’
“They make my day.”
Reach reporter Kathianne Boniello by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 146.
