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Bobby Doyle, 58, dies of heart attack |
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Saturday, 15 December 2007 |
By STEVE MAZZONE
Call Sports Writer
The roads are going to be a little more silent now.
Woonsocket High track and cross-country coach Bobby Doyle, a former world-class marathoner and top-level road racer, died Friday morning after suffering a heart attack. He was 58.
Not surprisingly, news of Doyle's death has shocked the running community. He was a well-respected coach at Woonsocket and in the Rhode Island Interscholastic League. Since he first began coaching at WHS in 1995, the Central Falls native produced numerous All-Staters and also developed a keen rapport with the athletes he trained.
Longtime WHS head coach George Briggs received the devasting news just about an hour after Doyle's passing. He told his team what happened in the school's gymnasium shortly after.
"It wasn't easy," he said. "There was a lot of crying. It's hard to believe that somebody (in great shape like) Bobby is gone.
"I lost a friend, a really good friend."
Briggs cherished the time he was able to spend with Doyle during their 13 years coaching together. In just his second year, Woonsocket captured its first and only state title in cross-country.
"He just brought the kids to another level," Briggs said. "He always told me his goal was to bring the kids to where they could compete at a state level. He did that year after year.”
Doyle, a seven-time winner of the now-defunct Ocean State Marathon as well as a long list of other top-level finishes in elite competitions throughout the state and country, will forever leave behind a legacy as one of the most accomplished runners to ever come out of the state.
"He was just a phenomenal runner and still was at his age," said longtime Cumberland High coach Tom Kenwood. "Life's just too short."
Kenwood was a runner at Tolman High when Doyle first came into prominence as a star distance ace from Hope High. Doyle later went on to excel for the University of Texas El Paso, where he attained All-American status in cross-country for the Miners, who, at the time, were one of the top powers nationally.
"He was just a refuse-to-lose type of guy in all aspects of life," Kenwood said. "He had a great sense of humor. He had great success at Woonsocket. He was also a great father. I think he would want to be remembered like that."
In his post-collegiate career, that's when Doyle really started to leave his mark. Besides his success in Newport at the Ocean State Marathon, Doyle often finished among the elite runners at the famed Boston Marathon, highlighted by a fifth-place finish in 1985. He was also a former member of the U.S. team that competed in the marathon at the PanAm Games and also competed in the 1980 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials.
Despite all his accomplishments as a runner, Briggs stated that Doyle never talked about his laurels at Woonsocket. It was all about the kids he coached.
"He was never about himself," Briggs said. "He never talked about himself. He always wanted to be in the background. He just didn't want the attention. It was all about the kids. As good an athlete as he was, and as good a coach as he was, he was an incredible human being. He was one of those all-around nice guys."
Smithfield's Tom Grundy remembers his good friend fondly. The ex-Cumberland High All-Stater was a former teammate and rival of Doyle.
"If somebody ever told me who they thought would live to 100 years old, I would say him," Grundy said. "I'm still in a state of shock. It's hard to believe he is not here."
Back in the 1970s, Grundy and Doyle competed together as members of the Johnson & Wales Athletic Club. While they were teammates and good friends, the battles the two runners had against each other were often brutal.
"I would say that Bobby had the unique ability to push himself to the maximum," Grundy said. "He is that type of runner. His pain threshold was very high. He had that ability to push himself to the max. He trained very hard. He was a fierce competitor when he went to race."
Grundy was one of the only runners to beat Doyle on his own turf, capturing titles at Ocean State in 1979 and 1980. He also raced with Doyle at the Olympic Trials in Buffalo, N.Y., where he was edged by his teammate during the final stretch. Doyle placed 42nd overall with a time of 2 hours, 19 minutes and 8 seconds, while Grundy was 45th at 2:19:12.
"He was a great guy," he said. "He had a great sense of humor. We worked our butts off, but we always joked. He was a good friend."
Grundy recalled his first victory at Ocean State. In 1979, Grundy trailed Doyle until the 23rd mile before taking over the lead and managing to hold off his determined training partner the final few miles.
"I was feeling strong. I pulled alongside him and Bobby looked at me and I think he knew at that point," Grundy said. "He looked at me and said, 'Nice race.' I said, 'Thank you.'
"We had some great battles, but after the race our friendship was still there."
A friendship that Briggs will also always remember.
"It was so tough this afternoon after practice," said Briggs, who stated that his team decided to continue with practice to honor their late coach. "I was looking in a dark gymnasium and just realized he wasn't going to come through that door. Cross-country and track in Rhode Island has suffered an incredible loss."
The tragic death of Doyle comes just six months after his son, Brendan Doyle, a R.I. State Trooper, nearly lost his life after he was brutally attacked while reacting to a dangerous off-duty situation in Providence.
"They have had a tough go at it the last few months," Grundy said.
Doyle leaves behind his wife, Lori, and his five children.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 22 December 2007 )
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