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Doyle’s death stuns community |
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Saturday, 15 December 2007 |
By STEVE MAZZONE
Just like the rest of the running community, I was both shocked and saddened by the news of Bobby Doyle's unexpected death from a heart attack. At about 2 o'clock on Friday afternoon, I received the call of his passing from my sports editor, Terry Nau, who appeared to have the same somber feeling that I was suddenly experiencing.
He will surely be missed.
For 13 years, Bobby was the assistant coach for the Woonsocket High track and cross-country teams. According to longtime head coach George Briggs, he was a strong addition to the program with his knowledge of the sport and his uncanny rapport with the athletes he coached. In a preview I wrote for Thursday's paper about this year's boys' indoor track team, Briggs repeated what he has told me so many times before on how much of a joy it was to have him in Woonsocket and how much he contributed to the success of the athletes.
On a personal level, I knew Bobby for more than 30 years. In the mid-to-late 1970s, I was a track and cross-country runner for Cumberland High, while Bobby was tearing up the streets as a elite marathoner and road racer. At the time, four-time Boston and New York City marathon champion Bill Rodgers was known on a global level as the “King of the Roads” for his dominance in the sport. In Rhode Island, Bobby was our own “King of the Roads.”
A former star runner at Hope High and the University of Texas El Paso, Bobby really came to prominence in his post-collegiate career, particularly in the city of Newport. It was there that the Central Falls native captured an astonishing seven individual titles at the now-defunct Ocean State Marathon.
Many times during the first week of November, I would make the trip to view the race. In his first victory in 1976, Bobby upset former Boston Marathon champion Amby Burfoot. In fact, he beat many top-notch runners on those cobblestone streets.
And it wasn't just there that Bobby excelled. Along with countless victories on the road race circuit, he also had success at the Boston Marathon. Against some of the best runners in the world, Bobby finished among the top 12 three different times. He placed fifth in 1985 and ran his personal best of 2 hours, 14 minutes and 3 seconds for the 26.2-mile distance in 1979, when he placed seventh overall.
During my brief time as a high school track coach at North Smithfield and Tolman in the 1990s and now as a sports writer at The Call, where I have been for nearly eight years, I had many talks with Bobby about those “glory” years. He would often tell me about the treacherous workouts he endured to get to the elite level and how he had a no-holds-barred attitude when it came to running and racing. No competition was too tough for Bobby. It was evident by the way he ran. In his unorthodox, crouched-shoulder running style, Bobby never did back down from his competitors. These are attributes I have witnessed in most of the athletes that he has coached at Woonsocket — past and present.
The last time I saw Bobby before his passing was at the state cross-country meet at Ponaganset in early November. Bobby playfully reminded me about a preview I had written and how I had a slight error. In the story, I stated how the Villa Novans placed second in the 1996 cross-country state meet when, in actuality, they claimed their one and only state crown. No surprise, it happened in Bobby's first few years as a coach. He wasn't angry that I failed to mention the state title, but he just wanted to make sure that I knew.
Back in February of 2005, I wrote another story about former All-Stater Ronny Genao and how he had prospered in his first year of running despite all the barriers he had to go through growing up in a troubled neighborhood in Puerto Rico and New York City. Genao had much admiration for his coach and what he had done to make him the runner he was.
“I want to be a runner just like him,” Genao said. “He never told anyone who he was. That's what I like about him. He's like my first coach. He's like my second father.”
During this difficult time, my condolences go out to Bobby's family and his friends. He left a lasting impression on the running community, especially here in Woonsocket. He will he missed.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 22 December 2007 )
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