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Back to topBorn to Coach: The Story of Bill Squires, the Legendary Coach of the Greater Boston Track Club (Hardcover)
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From tasting his own blood while running hard as a Notre Dame miler to producing the top US marathon legends in the epicenter of the running boom of the 1970s and into the 80s, Bill Squires not only survived being born with a misdiagnosed and potentially fatal defective heart, but the late-developing skinny kid also amassed numerous track records as a collegiate All-American while struggling academically.
As the first coach of the groundbreaking Greater Boston Track Club, Bill Squires was the key figure in the creation of the greatest generation of American distance runners. Coaching for years at all levels, it is with this vast accumulation of firsthand knowledge and experience that legendary Olympians and major marathon champions such as Bill Rodgers, Alberto Salazar, Greg Meyer, Dick Beardsley, wheelchair champ Bob Hall, and more, individually and with GBTC dominated the landscape and set the pace for future generations via Bill's innovative race simulators and group-training techniques that are still used today. Proof of his determination and perseverance appeared early as he survived the physical and emotional childhood trauma and effects of a misdiagnosis that stunted his emotional and physical growth. He continually pushed himself through personal pain in competition and maturation; found his eventual athletic calling as a record-setting runner; and became the highly sought-after benevolent ambassador of running as a coach.
He is proof that one should never give up.
Coach Bill Squires turned a bunch of wacky, individualistic Boston runners into marathon elites in part because he shared the same traits "" he's wacky and individualistic. And very, very smart about training for road-race success. I only got to train with Squires and the Greater Boston Track Club a couple of times in my career, but those workouts were among the hardest "" and most fun "" I ever did. I'll never forget those runs. ""Ambrose "Amby" Burfoot, 1968 Boston Marathon winner, Runner's World editor-at-large, author
Coach Billy Squires, as we affectionately called him, is a remarkable human being as well as a brilliant coach. He is always generous with his time and we've had many conversations over the years. I know him as a very thoughtful and articulate man with a sense of humor. Not only did he train Alberto Salazar, Dick Beardsley, Bill Rodgers, and Greg Meyer, to name a few, but he takes time to chat with many of us in the running community. I remember him at the Boston Marathon year after year and we'd sit and talk about the old days and the new days. I never had a coach, but if I had, I would have wanted it to be Coach Squires. He often said he wished he'd known me 40 or 50 years ago, and I'd smile. I always look forward to our chats and wish there had been more of them. He's a great coach and a wonderful person. I have a huge amount of respect and affection for him. ""Roberta Bobbi Gibb, three-time winner of the Boston Marathon (1966-68) and the first woman to finish the race
In the fall of 1973, my junior year at Boston State College, I approached my teacher, Bill Squires. Bill was my physical education health and fitness instructor. Classes were always full of engaging conversation, and no one missed them. Bill was also the coach of the Greater Boston Track Club as well as for Boston State College. After class, I asked Bill if he would coach me to do the first National Wheelchair Mile the following summer. The record was under seven minutes (6:53). I thought I could do it. He looked at me, shaking his head, 'Do you know what that is? That's four back-to-back quarter miles in a wheelchair ' I told him I could do it. Bill gave me a workout schedule and told me to see him in the spring. I followed up in the spring and told him I was ready. He realized that I was committed and gave me a track program and told me to keep in touch.
The day before I was to leave for the Mile, I saw him in the hallway at school. I called his name and he turned and smiled. He said, 'Look, I've sent two guys to the nationals, the third coming back a champion. Here's what you're going to do. Someone is going to break away; don't worry. Tuck in, say, around fourth place. At 300 yards coming out of the corner, sprint to the finish.' To my amazement, it happened just like that. I broke the record by four seconds (6:49). I was so proud wearing my Boston State College uniform and Converse running flats that he had given me.
After doing the World Championship, I went to Bill again about doing the Boston Marathon. He told me I was nuts, but he gave me a distance training program. As part of this training, I did part of the Marathon route during a race in February called the Washington Day Marathon. Bill followed me in his station wagon "" encouraging me and stopping traffic. He was spinning around in a very dangerous intersection, flapping his hands, stopping traffic in all directions, urging me to come through. He looked like a scarecrow When I was approaching Heartbreak Hill, he got out of his car and waved me to stop. He yelled, 'You did it You did it It's all downhill. You did the Boston Marathon ' He presented me with a medal, which I cherish to this day. Eventually doing the actual Boston Marathon, Bill helped me accomplish my goal of breaking three hours in 1975 (2:58:00) and receive a certificate for all future entrants (but the beef stew was gone). All with the encouragement of my coach, Bill Squires. ""Bob Hall, pioneering two-time Boston Marathon winner, 1977 National Wheelchair Championship WR-setter, former Boston Marathon Wheelchair Athlete Liaison
I first met Bill Squires] in 1974, I think, at a track meet, of course, when Vin Fleming, a teammate, introduced me and told him that I had joined the Greater Boston Track Club. I was surprised that he knew a lot about me and my running, and he was very encouraging. The Boston-area track and field community was tight, and everyone seemed to know everyone else. I was learning. Looking back, it is clear to me that his success came from his love of running and track and field. Just being around it "" translating all his practical knowledge into specific workouts, many individualized, and watching his athletes perform "" was exciting and he put his life into it and never looked for anything in return other than sincerity.
There are many, many stories of Coach's generosity, from giving money to Bill Rodgers to buy bread and milk when he was on food stamps to giving up his bed at a road race to Dick Beardsley and sleeping in a bathtub with a shower curtain for a blanket. He would give fatherly advice as well, urging me to return to college and finish my degree after a cross-country trip of nearly a year. He told me, 'Bobby, I'm glad you quit picking daisies and got serious. ""Bob Hodge, seven-time Mount Washington Road Race winner, 1979 Boston Marathon third-place finisher, Greater Boston Track Club
Billy Squires was a high school miler, runner, and champion at the national level. He went to Notre Dame and competed for them and was at a very high professional level post-collegiately for a while and several times] ran the Boston Marathon.
He coached Boston State College and he made the Greater Boston Track Club the highest-level distance running group ever organized in Massachusetts. Billy helped all of us in GBTC to improve and reach higher levels, and of course those runners include people like 1983 Boston Marathon champion Greg Meyer, 1982 Boston Marathon champion Alberto Salazar, and many other high-level runners such as 2:08 marathoner Dick Beardsley, 2:11 marathoner Randy Thomas, 2:10 marathoner Bob Hodge, and the list goes on and on. Billy inspired all of us and motivated all of us because we could see how much he loved our sport "" that was the ultimate key to the success of the Greater Boston Track Club.
It was an honor to introduce Coach Squires at his induction into the USATF National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2017. Coach Squires is known across the country and certainly is one of "" if not the "" best marathon coach of all-time. Not only that, he is a great guy. And to this day, I still hear his former athletes talk about their work with Coach Squires. He also played a powerful force in the first running boom in the United States, which might be his greatest contribution to the sport. We all like the Coach.""Bill Rodgers, four-time Boston Marathon and New York City Marathon winner, Marathon Man co-author
Bill Squires was the first great marathon coach in the United States that did for marathon racing and training what University of Oregon coach Bill Bowerman did for distance runners on the track. Bill Squires mentored and influenced a lot of future runners and coaches with his training methods. No other marathon coach in the United States before or after Bill Squires has coached as many world-class runners in the marathon. He, along with my high school coach Don Benedetti and University of Oregon coach Bill Dellinger, were.