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As you read this, Bruce Boyd ’60 is probably running.
Boyd has run the 26.2-mile New York Marathon 14 times and the 26-mile Boston Marathon seven times. Then, in the late 1970s, he got bored and started to look for long races, the so-called ultra marathons. He ran his first JFK (50-mile) Marathon in 1979 and has since run 98 ultras, of which 27 were 100 miles or longer.
“During 2003, I passed the 60,000-mile mark of total miles run and [my wife] Jane told me my warranty has run out,” jokes Boyd, a psychology graduate. “I know this sounds like a lot of running, but in this small universe in which I sometimes dwell, it is not of particular note.”
Besides running, Boyd does some consulting, primarily in the long-term care field. But “not too much,” he says. Too much would interfere with running.
He retired from TIAA-CREF, an investment company specializing in managing retirement savings for educators, in 1994. In addition, Boyd serves on the board of an insurance trust that serves members of the American Psychology Association and has spent “a fair amount” of time building and fixing homes for Habitat for Humanity.
For about five years, Boyd says, he held the U.S. 12-hour road record for runners aged 55-59 — just over 72 miles. It has since been broken but then, he is older now. He established the 100-mile road record of 19:56 for those aged 65 at the national USATF championship race in Ohio. Then he finished his 15th consecutive Vermont 100-mile run, the only person to have finished all 15, and all under 24 hours.
“I will continue to do this as long as I’m able and it’s fun,” says Boyd, who runs with a memory of a presentation at his freshman orientation dinner nearly 50 years ago.
“It was entitled ‘The Right to Fail,’” recalls Boyd, “and has given me the ability to feel comfortable in attempting things beyond what I’m sure I can do. I know so many who won’t try for fear of failure.”