Marathoner Bobby Doyle Dead from Heart Attack By David Monti (c) 2007 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved December 14, 2007
On
the heels of launching a new road racing festival to be held next
spring, the state of Rhode Island lost one of its best-ever marathon
runners today, Bobby Doyle, who died of a heart attack, friends
reported.
"This is heartbreaking," wrote CVS Caremark Downtown
5-K race director, Charlie Breagy, in an e-mail message. "Terrible
news for the Rhode Island running community."
Doyle, a former
All-American runner at Johnson & Wales University, was the winner
of the first Ocean State Marathon in 1976, and went on to win the race
six more times. He finished in the top-10 at the Boston Marathon three
times, including a seventh place finish in 1979 in 2:14:04. Doyle also
won the 1978 George Washington Birthday Marathon.
Ironically,
next May's new Cox Providence Rhode Races had been organized partially
to benefit Doyle's son Brendan, 26, a Rhode Island state trooper. The
younger Doyle sustained a severe head injury when he was assaulted
while off-duty by a motorist whom he had confronted for weaving
dangerously in and out of traffic. The motorist punched him, causing
him to fall backwards and strike his head. He was not expected to
survive, according to a report in the Providence Journal. A former
corrections officer has been charged with felony assault and reckless
driving in the case.
In addition to his son, Bobby Doyle is
survived by his wife, Lori. Other information surrounding his death is
not yet available.