Memoirs
Sender: joe oakes
Email: alcatrazjoe@hotmail.com
Posted On: 08/11/2010
Year: 1994
non-motorized circumnavigation
APPOINTMENT TO ROYAL GEOGRPAHICAL SOCIETY
London. Joseph A. Oakes, Portland, Oregon, has been appointed as a Fellow of Great Britain’s prestigious Royal Geographical Society. Oakes has been “adventuring†for many years, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. He was honored for his non-motorized circumnavigation of he earth, walking, running, cycling, mushing, kayaking, swimming and sailing around the planet. En route he became the first person to swim from Russia to Alaska in the Diomedes, in the Bering Strait.
Oakes lives with his wife of 49 years, the former Sylvia Nelson, in Forest Heights, where he is active as Chairman of the Neighborhood Emergency Team. He is a member of the Oregon Road Runners and the Barracudas Masters swim club in Beaverton, close to his grandchildren, Rachel, William and Hannah Mead. His favorite place to go for a run or a walk is Forest Park, and he is a member of Friends of Forest Park.
When asked how he felt about being inducted into the Royal Geographical Society, Oakes replied, “I am flabbergasted at being asked to join the ranks of people like my hero, Ernest Shackelton. It is beyond my wildest expectations, and frankly, I do not feel that I deserve it.†That sounds a little modest for a man who has run 130 marathons, 51 ultra-marathons, half a dozen Ironman triathlons, has done long-distance swims in the English Channel, the Strait of Gibraltar, the Dardanelles, the Bering Strait and his favorite, Alcatraz. He has mushed a team along the Iditarod Trail and has kayaked the Yukon River. He is also the creator of the Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon, now in its 27th year. Because of his long years of service to the community (Boy Scouts, Red Cross, etc.), Oakes was given the honor of carrying the Olympic torch along the route to Atlanta in 1996. He is the author of The Alcatraz Swimmers Manual, now in its fourth printing.
“I guess that I am the luckiest guy in the world. When I started running in high school in 1948, I was blessed with a great coach, Howie Borck, who taught us to love athletics and to give our very best. Now, 58 years later, I still love getting out and putting my body through its paces.†What are his plans for further adventures? “As you get older and slow down, so you look more to the quality of an adventure, and the opportunity to associate with like-minded people. Yes, there are a few things on the burner. In September I will be swimming island-to-island in Croatia. I am currently studying the feasibility of an extreme swim in the Irish Sea. And I have always wanted to go from Northern Canada down to Tierra del Fuego under my own steam, on foot and on a bike. With gasoline prices rising so fast, that might soon be the only way to go.â€
“Alcatraz Joe†Oakes is a member of the Tualatin Hills Barracuda Masters in Portland, Oregon. He has done swims on all continents, including the Antarctic, and a few “intercontinental†swims. Oakes has swum across every river in the northern tier of the USA. During his quarter of a century of directing Alcatraz swims (et al), he has guided more than 25,000 swimmers across the cold and turbulent waters of San Francisco Bay.
Joe grew up on 148th Street near Willis Avenue in the Bronx. He graduated from Cardinal Hayes High School in 1952. After a stint with the US Army in Korea he was awarded degrees in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering at CCNY. He has pioneered the “impossible swim†from Alcatraz, and has authored “The Alcatraz Swimmers Manual.â€
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