What do you think of when you hear the name Ted? If you guessed an alcoholic druggie teddy bear then we can't blame you but you're wrong. If you guessed the soft spoken guy on our team that has those gorgeous blonde curls and runs pretty damn fast then your right! But do you know the real Ted Doyle? He has been involved with running since he was young and now is fortunate enough to even have a job that involves it! Here's your chance to get to know him better.
Ted Doyle
Kyle: Hello Ted and thank you for joining us!
Mr. Doyle: Hey! Glad to be here.
Kyle: How has your Fall season been shaping up?
Mr. Doyle: I'd say it's been a little iffy--I was focusing on the half in Jersey City, but that didn't really work out as planned..since then, work's kinda taken over with a bunch of stuff for the NYC Marathon.
Still though, I wasn't expecting to go under 27 this past weekend!
Kyle: Congrats! So you've still been training strong even though you're busy?
Mr. Doyle: Yeah, I mean, I do as much as I can, and try to get in like 30-40 mins 4-5 times a week..could we also count soccer as speed work?
Kyle: As long as you don't end up like Ricky or Chuck have after dabbling in soccer. Tell us more about the sub 27 performance!
Mr. Doyle: Haha yeah, no worries..Going into the race, I was thinking I'd run like 27:30 at best, but then I had a good pack with Mike and Sean pulling me along through 4-5k..then from there, it was more about just trying to keep my foot on the gas for 10 or so minutes
Kyle: Are you planning on anymore races this season or are you riding it out till indoor at this point?
Mr. Doyle: Ashenfelter's always a fun one--I feel like the 8K is the best distance to race..I don't think I'm in shape to make the trip for club nationals, but maybe I'll do like one or two other road races and then shut it down.
Kyle: Ashenfelteeeerrrr. Gotta get a Turkey Day race in to be guilt free during the feast.
Mr. Doyle: Plus, gotta get that mug!
Kyle: Can't not get the mug.
So what are you doing for NY?
Mr. Doyle: I wrote/edited the media guide and worked on a lot of stuff for the marathon's web site, and then on race day I'm covering a kids' race and a story on charity runners.
Kyle: That's awesome! Have you done this before with the event?
Mr. Doyle: Yeah, in 2013 I covered a volunteer station in Queens, last year I had the same story but in Brooklyn, and now this year I think I'm mostly in Central Park.
Kyle: That's where the kids race takes place?
Mr. Doyle: Yeah, they added that this year, and it's a 3K in Central Park on Sunday morning.
Fun fact: I ran a 4K for high schoolers, also in Central Park, on Marathon Sunday in 2005..everything's coming full circle!..I also got there really late and had to start at the way back of the pack--so that "aGSTC Member Most Likely to Show Up Late But Never Miss a Race" Award I won last year was really 10 years in the making.
Kyle: That's like Marathon Sundayception right there! Run with in a run. Have you ever considered doing the full race?
Mr. Doyle: I've run 26.2 miles before, but not like, an official, organized marathon; still, it was enough to learn that 2-3 hours is a loooong time to be running! I do feel like it'd be cool to run Boston and to go past my school after Heartbreak Hill, but I'm good with 10Ks and halves for now.
Kyle: I'd have to agree with you on that last part. How was the transition from college running to club running for you?
Mr. Doyle: It took a while to get back into it--I think I didn't race from graduation until like Sept of the next year--but eventually I got to a place where I started racing more just to have fun than to run for a time.
And now it's like, I can't put in 60-70-80 mile weeks, but I'll still get out the door, because I see all the other GSTC guys in all the other enclaves putting in the work.
Kyle: How did you find out about gstc?
Mr. Doyle: I found out through Mike Rolek, who I think ran with GSTC back in its early days..he and I both grew up in Maplewood and went to the same grade school.
Kyle: Did you compete with each other in high school as well?
Mr. Doyle: Only a little--he was a senior when I was a freshman (and I was a sprinter), but there were a few meets each season where Seton Hall and St. Peter's were both there.
Kyle: How was your college running career?
Mr. Doyle: It had ups and downs, but overall I'm good with it--despite the winter, Boston's got some of the best spots to run. I'd say the two big highlights were placing 3rd as a team at New England's outdoors my junior year, and then hosting ACCs at Franklin Park in XC my senior year.
Kyle: You miss the busy Boston scene or is the Dirty Jerz keeping you entertained?
Mr. Doyle: A lot of my friends stayed up there after graduation, but having to ride the T (their subway) would keep me from ever moving back haha. It's just...so...slow!
Kyle: We do know how to commute well here, unless you're in a traffic jam, which happens almost daily. So you used to live in Boston near Heart Break Hill, now you work with the New York Marathon, what other big marathon could you see yourself getting involved in?
Mr. Doyle: Wasn't there one around the South Pole? I feel like that'd be pretty cool (I'm not even sure if that's pun intended), because then you could say sort of ran around the entire world
Kyle: Ooooo, good answer.
Well that's all the time we have for this week, thanks for speaking with us!
Mr. Doyle: Hey, thanks for having me! And thank you for taking the time to do this every week.
Kyle: Thanks dude!
Tune in next week to see who we interview!
