Coach Bill Squires who coached runners like Bill Rodgers has died

The Boston Athletic Association mourns the passing of the legendary coach and athlete Bill Squires, who died today, Thursday, June 30. This is an immense loss for our running community.

William Squires was born November 24, 1932 and was an American track and field coach. He is well known for coaching the Greater Boston Track Club at the height of its marathon success, including marathoners Bill Rodgers, Alberto Salazar, Dick Beardsley and Greg Meyer.

Squires was originally from Arlington, Massachusetts and competed in track and field events for Arlington High School. While a senior there, Squires was chosen as a member of the 1952 Parade All-American team. Squires went on to college at Notre Dame, where he was a two-time All-America in cross-country in 1954 and 1955.

Squires's personal bests according to the MSTCA hall-of-fame induction were 4:21 for the mile in high school and 4:07 in college. He was notable for designing a Heartbreak Hill simulator for training. He was formerly a coach at Boston State College from 1965 to 1978.

In 2002 Squires received the Bill Bowermanaward from the National Distance Running Hall of Fame. Squires co-authored the book "Speed with Endurance" with Bruce Lehane.

"Bill Squires was a speaker at our National Running Week in the early 1980's," says MBR publisher Bob Anerson.  "He shared his knowledge and we were very impressed.  He will be missed."

posted Thursday June 30th