As a teenager in the late 1960s, Tom Fleming was part of a generation that was living in the midst of a myriad of political and social change.

Hot button issues such as the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement were among the many topics that had young people up in arms and railing against the establishment.

The sports world also was undergoing plenty of change during this era. Baseball and football were king, but many other sports like basketball and soccer were making their way into the lexicon of the everyday sports fan.

Athletes were becoming more well-rounded. And no one was more well-rounded than Fleming.

As a 17-year-old athlete at Bloomfield (N.J.) High School near New York City, Fleming was a fan of the “regular sports” — football, baseball, basketball and soccer.

But he would soon discover a sport that would alter the course of his life — running.

“I was just a small, skinny kid at that time,” remembered Fleming, a 2005 enshrinee into the Ogden Newspapers 20K Classic Run and Walk Hall of Fame.

But he was fast. At least that’s what one of his best friends thought. And before Fleming knew it, his career in road racing had begun.

“My progression was rather quick,” Fleming said. “I think one thing all of my coaches admitted was they didn’t understand my love for running.

“I liked the idea of testing myself.”

By the age of 18, Fleming had been invited to a U.S. Olympic training camp. And later that year, he tried his hand at one of the toughest races in the country — the Boston Marathon.

“I just had a desire to run far,” Fleming, a four-time NCAA All-American, said. “I started dabbling in the marathons, and how that happened is because I wanted it ... I wanted to be a marathon runner.”

While he never won a title in Beantown, he would go on to post a third- and a fourth-place finish.

Fleming went on to greater success in the New York City Marathon, claiming victories in 1973 and 1975, along with a pair of runner-up finishes.

Bill Rodgers followed Fleming’s final victory on the streets of The Big Apple with four consecutive triumphs of his own from 1976-79.

The two had become the face of the road racing world. And when Hugh Stobbs initiated plans to stage a 20K event in Wheeling in 1977, he went after the duo to give it plenty of star power, as well as credibility.

“I got a call from Hugh saying he wanted to bring me, Bill and Frank Shorter in,” Fleming recalled.

It was from that point that he knew the folks in Wheeling meant business about putting together a top-notch road race.

And when the initial event stepped off on the streets of The Friendly City, the nationally known trio were part of the group of 750 runners.

The race quickly turned into a staple of Fleming’s yearly racing itinerary.

“It was always four to five weeks after Boston, and it’s during those weeks after Boston where we were always trying to recover,” Fleming said.

“But by no means was it easy.”

Fleming never won the Ogden Newspapers 20K Classic Run and Walk, but he never regretted his annual visits to the Ohio Valley.

“I have a love for this race,” he said.

So much so, that after he retired from competitive racing in 1986, he continued to make the pilgrimage to Wheeling. In recent years, Fleming has served as an announcer during Friday and Saturday events.

“I try to give the sport the enthusiasm it deserves,” Fleming said.

Fleming finished his running career with victories in the Cleveland and Toronto marathons in 1978, and the Los Angeles Marathon in 1981.

He was a member of Team USA as an alternate marathoner for the 1976 Olympic games in Montreal. At one time, he held American records in the 15-mile, 20-mile, 25K, 30K and 50K distance events.

For the last eight years, Fleming has headed the track and cross country programs at Montclair Kimberley Academy in Montclair, N.J., where he teaches fourth grade.

Fleming finds passing on his knowledge to his athletes gratifying.

“I think more athletes need to give back,” he said. “I was lucky to have served as a national coach and so forth.

“I’ve coached at every type of level, and we need more coaches at the high school level.”

Local runners might have an opportunity to learn from Fleming as soon as 2009. That’s when Fleming would like to start a clinic for high school runners and their coaches as part of Ogden race festivities.

“I lived in the middle of the biggest running boom in the 1970s,” he said. “We may have more people running today, but the quality of runner isn’t what it was then.

“We need another boom, but we also need to teach kids progressive training.”