Chefs Are Running the NYC Marathon to Honor Jamal James Kent

The chef was an avid runner and built an inclusive run club.

On Sunday, November 3, a whole bunch of chefs and culinary professionals are running the 2024 New York City Marathon in honor of Jamal James Kent, the acclaimed fine dining chef of restaurants like Crown Shy and Saga in Manhattan. Kent passed away suddenly in June, to the shock of his community and the many chefs he mentored. Kent — a leader, chef, business owner, graffiti artist, sneaker lover, and winner of the prestigious culinary competition Bocuse d’Or USA in 2010 — had an enormous impact.

It’s a big group running for him, encompassing his wife Kelly Kent, a dozen members of Crown High Run Club including staff from his restaurants and the team’s coach Jerry Francois, as well as 2011 F&W Best New Chef George Mendes, CEO of Daniel Boulud’s The Dinex Group Sebastien Silvestri, and 2007 F&W Best New Chef Gavin Kaysen.

Related: The Culinary Community Remembers Chef James Kent

People knew Kent as an absolute force in the culinary space, but he was also an avid runner. After a pretty big health scare that involved a series of panic attacks — “I was on the floor thinking I was going to die,” he told running brand Bandit — wellness and mental health became a serious focus for him. Kent turned to running. 

“He would always say, ‘Whenever I ran, I solved every problem. I came up with new ideas,’”  Kelly says. “It was just a great way for him to clear his mind.” He completed the NYC Marathon four times, swearing every time he wouldn’t do it again. He even ran the NYC Half Marathon on a day off and then opened his fine dining restaurant Crown Shy the next day.

Along with Kelly, he co-founded Crown High Run Club, an outlet for front and back of the house staffers from the Kents’ New York City-based restaurant group Kent Hospitality — that eventually opened to anyone in the restaurant industry. The goal for Crown High Run Club, which meets every Monday, is to promote “wellness, friendship, and inclusivity in the hospitality industry.”

“This was the way he ran his life,” Kelly says. “He didn't go to the bar every night. He came home, he slept, and then he’d try to run, try to go to the gym. And he wanted to share that with everybody so that they could create these healthy habits for themselves.” They even brought in a coach, Jerry Francois, founder of Goldfinger Track Club in New York.

Related: I’m a Pro Chef and Marathoner — Here’s What I Eat When I’m Training

According to Kelly, being part of the run club and taking direction was “a very human moment” for Jamal. “He was like everybody else, taking directions from the coach, doing his best to keep up,” she says. “It's a vulnerable moment, too, as a leader, right? Everyone's seeing you huffing and puffing and trying to keep up with these young kids that are running a six-minute mile… We have some really fast runners, but he would like to hold up the back. There was room for everyone.”

The inclusive part of the run club was a big part of the draw. “It didn't matter what your position was in a kitchen or in the restaurant,” Kaysen says. “Once you were out there, you guys were all together. Everybody was kind of the same.”

Whenever Kaysen is visiting New York from his home base of Minneapolis, he tries to run with Crown High. “It's a really powerful club to be a part of,” he says. Jamal’s impact, and the run club’s impact, can be felt far and wide. After Jamal passed in June, hundreds of people in the restaurant industry turned out for a group run. Kaysen is running the NYC Marathon with Jamal in mind, saying, “It’s a really good way to continue to honor him and what he was all about.”

To Francois, a longtime friend of the Kent family, coaching them was a real inspiration. “If Jamal can run a half marathon, open a restaurant the next day… If Kelly could be a phenomenal wife, a mother and business owner, and run a marathon herself, then why am I making the excuse that I can't?” 

While Francois was Jamal’s coach, Jamal was a mentor, a father figure, and a friend to Francois, and the duo shared a deep love for sneakers. They both lifted each other up, and this year, Francois is running the NYC Marathon with a full heart. “I feel like it's my duty to continue to carry on Jamal's vision,” Francois says. ”And we are all here to lift his legacy that he built and continue to carry it through.”

Running and exercise can function as a coping mechanism for grief. A recent research paper that reviewed over 25 studies found some evidence that physical activity can “provide benefit to individuals who have experienced bereavement, often having a positive impact on grief outcomes related to mental health.”

Related: The Food & Wine Pro Guide to Mental Health and Sobriety Resources

People run marathons for all sorts of reasons. Some people do it to test their personal limits, some people do it for the high fives and to see a city, some do it for physical fitness, some people do it for charity, and some people do it for mental health reasons, or just get to eat an inordinately large brunch afterwards. Some do it for all of the above. But no one, absolutely no one, does it because they like the taste of gels (unflavored ones are the way to go). 

And some people also run marathons to remember a loved one. And on November 3, James Kent will definitely be remembered.