OLD TAPPAN, N.J. — On any given day on the roads between Old Tappan and Harrington Park, you might spot him. The stride is fluent, the body trim and the movement in perfect sync. Small wonder then that Dr. Stephen Brunnquell is so familiar to Northern Valley residents who honk and wave at his swiftly moving presence.

Exercise, with the emphasis on running, is more than an integral part of Dr. Brunnquell’s busy life. It is woven into his fabric seven days a week—five or six days for running, one or two days for swimming “depending on the weather,” the Old Tappan internist and resident says proudly.

The Brunnquell name is synonymous with quality throughout Bergen County. Besides his Park Medical Group offices, he is currently president of the four-county Englewood Health Physician Network. On March 20, 2021, he invited the entire staff of the Northern Valley Regional High School District to receive Covid vaccines through Englewood Hospital. But then there is that mystical running identity: 16 marathons and countless road races over decades.  If his current 5-k times are slightly slower than his victorious 18 minutes 10.2 seconds at the 2007 Harrington Park race, he can still dazzle like a well-preserved red wine.

And treadmills clearly play second fiddle to exterior instincts.  “I like being outside,” he says, of 5 to 6-mile early-morning journeys which can include music on longer runs into Rockland County and beyond, different daily routes depending on his mood, how far he wants to go, and his sked for that day. “I need a little meditation time, peacetime. It keeps me going,” he says. “It’s become a part of my life.”

Running wasn’t always in the routine. He preferred music to the roads in high school and at Lafayette College, but ran two marathons in his 20s, once under the name of “Einer Bergmark,” when he showed up at a Manhattan street corner, pleaded for New York City Marathon acceptance and was rewarded with the number of a Swedish entrant too ill to compete.

Forty-plus years later, Dr. Brunnquell is still on the move, along with his wife Donna, who is a “serious exerciser,” he says proudly, and three children (Chris, Andrew, and Melinda), all of whom have skills ranging from running to skiing. Chris even went so far as to jump into a New York City Marathon halfway into the race and start screaming encouragement at his father who was struggling to break the 3-hour mark for the first time. The impulse worked: with teeth clenched, fists pumping and a crowd cheering Chris’ positive exhortations (“let’s hear it for Steve!”), Dr. Brunnquell finished in 2:59.58.

Father and son also share other honors; each has won the Demarest 5-k (Chris twice). And in 2018, the Brunnquells (Steve, Andrew, Chris, and Chris’ wife Jacklyn) made a hometown farewell to Harrington Park, where Chris finished second in 16:40.6.

“People who come to me,” Dr. Brunnquell says of his medical practice, “they’re probably sick of me talking about exercise. But the good Lord made us to be in motion, and it’s important to do something. And I really work on young people to get them in an exercise program. It’s like brushing your teeth. Don’t think about it.”

The extended Covic-19 pandemic has produced “a lot more runners and walkers,” he says, of the current exercise movement, which is reflected in the extended wait times for newly-ordered treadmills, Peloton bikes, and other equipment. Being with nature, watching the sunrise, and hearing the birds are as essential to Dr. Brunnquell’s outdoor routine as a satisfying finishing time on a “flat, fast” Norwood 5-k course where he once broke 18 minutes.

For all their family connections and exercise commitments, Dr. Brunnquell and Donna have run together only once “when we were dating,” he says touchingly. They may run at the same time but go in different directions, each at their own pace, so they can finish together.

Now in his mid-60s, with knees and body still preciously intact, Dr. Brunnquell hopes to maintain his love affair with the roads. “As long as God lets me keep running, I’m going to go,” he says.

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