1966-1967: Hope High School, Providence, RI

     Bobby Doyle only started running during the outdoor track season of his junior year at Hope High in Providence.  As the myth goes, Bobby was lured into running by a friend who challenged Bobby to a race, and during a detention Bobby's friend got the race he wanted; or did he?  Bobby crushed him and was instantly hooked, he had just found something he was really good at.  

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Above, Bobby (far right) and the Hope boys warm up for a home meet.

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    Bobby took his new found Gift very seriously and began to train hard during the summer of 1966.  The increased mileage and the daily interval workouts began to instantly pay off for Bobby; he would not lose a race during the1966 cross country season until the state meet, where he placed third and was defeated by Cumberland's Rick McLaughlin.  Rick would later attend The University of Texas at El Paso with Bobby, where the two would become  life-long friends.

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Below, first place in a 1966 cross country dual meet.  Pictured at right (with stopwatch) is Hope High School  coach Ted McLaughlin. 

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Below, Bobby wins the 1967 Rhode Island 2-mile title.  Hey high school runners, try running 9.00 for the 3000 meters on a dusty wood gym floor!

 

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Although Bobby's high school career was short, he still managed to end it as the best high school distance runner in Rhode Island and RI State record holder for the outdoor 2-mile (9.34.3). 
 

 

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1967 - 1968: Bryant College

    After high school Bobby attended Bryant College along with 1966 RI XC State Champ,  Rick McLaughlin.  At that time Bryant didn't even have a cross country program, so a program had to be started.  Throughout 1967 Bryant had only two students on their cross country team, Rick McLaughlin and Bobby Doyle.  That season, they were forced to forfeit all team competitions and run as individuals.

 

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   Although there were no team wins for Bryant, there were many wins for Bobby Doyle during the 1967 cross country season.  The 18-year old freshman manged to beat the Providence College varsity team and set a course record on PC's home course in his very first meet.  Bobby went on to win the 1967 New England AAU Junior Cross Country Championships (5k - 15.42), and two weeks later he would go on to win the New England AAU Men's Senior Cross Country Championship (10k - 31.48).  At the National AAU Championship in Detroit, he would place 22nd. 

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1968 -1972:  The University of Texas at El Paso

     After his first cross country season at Bryant College, Bobby was contacted  by Wayne Vandenburg, the cross country coach at the University of Texas at El Paso.  Coach Vandenburg told Bobby he was assembling a NCAA National Championship caliber team and that he wanted him to be a part of it.  Bobby accepted the scholarship offer and after only one semester at Bryant College he was UTEP bound .  

 

 

 

 

 As you can see from the articles above, Coach Vandenburg was right.  The team he assembled in 1968 became the 1969 WAC Cross Country Champions,  NCAA Div. I Cross Country Champions and the USTFF Champions, all during the same season.

 

 

 

 

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The Ocean State Marathon: A 7-Time Winner

      1976, 1977, 1978, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1990

     In 1976 Bobby Doyle would begin his Ocean State Marathon legacy with a win in Newport, RI in the inaugural Ocean State Marathon (2:20:36), despite a steady cold rain.  Because of the weather Bobby ran wearing a sweatshirt under his singlet that he claimed "weighed about 15 pounds by the end of the race."  Bobby would go on to win the next two Ocean State Marathons in 1977 and 1978.  His 1978 victory came 6 months after he ran the Boston Marathon in 2:15:37 and placed an incredible 12th.    After getting over a few injuries that plagued him during the early 1980's, Bobby was back at it again in Newport.  Doyle would become victorious once again in 1983, and then again in 1984 and 1985. 

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Below, Bobby winning the 1976 Ocean State Marathon.

 

 

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Below, Bobby runs on to win his third straight Ocean State Marathon (1978).

 

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However, it is the year 1990 that makes Bobby Doyle legendary.  At the age of 41, Bobby Doyle decided 2 days before the Ocean State Marathon (then called the Rhode Island Marathon) that he would race it again.  By mile10, Bobby Doyle was still in the lead pack.  He thought he might go for it one more time, so he began to quicken the pace.  Slowly, he started to pull away;nobody went with him, and he never looked back.  A few miles later he lead the marathon by 300 meters.  Coming into the last mile he was still leading, but he said he remembers praying for his body to make it to the finish line.  Bobby survived the torturous 26 miles, 385 yards.  He not only made it to the finish line, but he did so in first place.  He was only 11 seconds ahead of second place; if the race were any longer he claims he would have lost.  Instead, that day Bobby Doyle became the 7-time Ocean State Marathon Champion and the undisputed Marathon King of Rhode Island.

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Below, Bobby at age 41, runs to victory in the 1990 Rhode Island Marathon.   

 

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Below, Bobby at the start of the 1st New Bedford Half Marathon.  He would eventually win.

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Above and below are Bobby and some of the Johnson & Wales Athletic Club members ( Jim Doyle, Joe Sullivan, and Ray Nelson).

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Below:  Bobby wins the Paul Bunyan Marathon in Maine.

 

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1978 Boston Marathon - 12th place

Bobby's 7 Ocean State Marathon victories were very impressive, but he also tangled with the marathon world's best on the marathon world's biggest and most famed stage, The Boston Marathon.  In 1978, Bobby proved he belonged among the marathon world's best, finishing in 12th place.     

Click here to view the 1978 Projo article

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Below, Bobby on the hills they call "Heartbreak Hill."  Bobby could always run sub- 5 minute miles here while others would struggle.

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Above and below, Bobby Doyle makes his way down Boylston St. to the finish of The Boston Marathon in 12th place.

 

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1979 Boston Marathon - 7th place, 2:14:03

Click here to view 1979 results

 Bobby after crosing the finish line of the 1979 Boston Marathon in 7th place.

 

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1985 Boston Marathon - 5th place