The most influential man in American public health is a 79-year-old former marathoner who jogs and power walks as much as possible. ‘There was almost nothing that could stop us,’ his running partner says.

Dr. Anthony Fauci has been running the same federal entity through some of the worst crises of the last half-century: AIDS, anthrax, swine flu, Ebola and, now, a coronavirus pandemic that has turned this infectious disease expert into the most influential person in American public health.

He’s also been running for almost the entire time.

For most of his life, a long run was simply built into Fauci’s insanely busy schedule as the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a daily appointment as routine as breakfast and dinner. He didn’t have to remind himself to breathe in fresh air. He couldn’t wait.

“Not only was it every day, but there was almost nothing that could stop us,” said Mike Goldrich, the NIAID’s former chief operating officer who also happened to be Fauci’s running buddy. “Ice. Snow. Rain. Heat. We were big fans of Gore-Tex.”

Now there is something that’s slowing him down. The greatest challenge of Fauci’s distinguished career is now so demanding that he can’t pause in his 20-hour workdays to run at lunch. It took a pandemic for this 79-year-old workaholic to resign himself to walking several miles on weekends.

It isn’t that running itself is unsafe right now. The nation’s public health officials have reassured the public that running outside remains safe, healthy and perfectly acceptable in a time of social distancing. Even for Tony Fauci. Especially for Tony Fauci.

CLICK HERE to read more.