'Jogging Joe' collapses during morning run

His route then took him past the station's sign, which displays a smiling caricature of the local fitness personality. He jogged uphill, past a row of fuel pumps by the Jennifer Road Detention Center.

Then Mr. Shafran collapsed to the street.

Volunteer Chief Bobby Vice saw Mr. Shafran, 81, fall to the ground, said Battalion Chief Matthew Tobia, a county Fire Department spokesman. He jumped out of his vehicle and ran to Mr. Shafron's side, screaming for firefighters inside the station for help.

Mr. Shafran, a columnist for The Capital, was not breathing when firefighters arrived at his side. He had no pulse, no blood pressure, and was in full cardiac arrest, Chief Tobia said.

Crews worked on Mr. Shafran, and within minutes were able to restore his pulse and blood pressure using a monitored heart defibrillator.

He was unconscious, Chief Tobia said. Still, Mr. Shafran was essentially, "brought back to life."

Mr. Shafran was taken by ambulance to nearby Anne Arundel Medical Center in Parole. He remains in the hospital's critical-care unit this morning, said Justin Paquette, an AAMC spokesman.

His wife, Jerri Shafran, said it was fortunate her husband collapsed near the fire station.

Mr. Shafran has a close relationship with the county and city's firefighters, and has been working with them to promote the "Partners for Life" program, along with the Annapolis Athletic Club. The program encourages joggers, walkers, and bicyclists to wear wristbands when they're out and about. The wristbands include identification information to help medical personnel should the exerciser have an emergency, like Mr. Shafran had Saturday morning.

The wristbands are just the latest fitness venture for Mr. Shafran, who moved to Annapolis in 1995.

He's an exercise columnist for The Capital, is a member of the Governor's Council for physical fitness, has a radio show "Let's Shape Up" on WBIS, sells exercise equipment at Sears, and volunteers his time promoting physical fitness in Annapolis and Anne Arundel.

The involvement in fitness has earned him the loving nickname, "Jogging Joe."

Mrs. Shafran said her husband has been writing his exercise column for more than five years.

"Every time he writes a column he gets so much pleasure out of it," she said. "He just loves it. He's always looking for things that will be of interest in his column. He gets very excited about it."

His editor, Gerry Jackson, said Mr. Shafran is always trying to get people to live a healthy lifestyle. Mr. Shafran is also known to bring a basket of apples to The Capital newsroom every fall, he said.

"When he comes in, he always makes the rounds saying hello to everyone," he said. "He was just in here Friday … he said he'd just finished a 7-mile jog."

His family said they hope this is "just a glitch" and that Mr. Shafran will pull through.

"We are all just hoping for the best and praying of course that he's going to rally and continue to do what he's always been doing," Mrs. Shafran said. "He's tough. I pray he's going to come through this and he'll be back out there waving to everybody on the street."

Mrs. Shafran said she keeps expecting her husband to jump up and throw on his running shoes.

"We're expecting him to sit up and say, 'OK. It's time for me to take a run. It's been three days now. I'm off schedule.' "

She said her husband is not one to take it easy.

"I tell him he needs to slow down," she said. "He'll say, 'No, no, no. I'm not happy when I slow down. I need to keep going, keep running.' He really is full of so much life. I'm sure he's saying to himself, 'I need to get back.' "

Mayor Ellen O. Moyer said she "loves Jogging Joe" and wishes him a full recovery.

"He's been an inspiration to so many people and we sincerely hope he comes out of this and we'll see him jogging again soon," she said.

Ray Weaver, a city spokesman, said Mr. Shafran has personally inspired him.

"I just did an interview with him two months ago, and he's a big inspiration," he said. "He's a great guy, and he's a character."

Mr. Jackson said Mr. Shafran is the "most inquisitive guy" he knows.

"For a guy that age, you'd think you'd be asking him the questions," he said. "And he's just asking you about this and that."

He's even known to bring a list of questions to a lunch to learn more about a person's job or a project they were working on, which could be a holdover from his days as a news man.

Mr. Shafran is a former ABC News director and anchor in Ohio, his wife said. In 1977, the Shafrans moved to Washington, D.C., where Mr. Shafran worked as a press secretary. He and his wife then started a media relations business, which they ran for 20 years, she said.

Of all the things he's done, Mrs. Shafran said her husband's happiest times have been in Annapolis.

"Living in Annapolis has been some of the happiest years of his life," she said. "…He's got lots and lots of friends all over the place. And he just loves what he does."