New biography explores the life and legacy of RIT coach and Rochester running pioneer Pete Todd

Rochester, New York – Pete Todd helped shape generations of runners during his 32 years at Rochester Institute of Technology. A new biography now looks back at the coach whose influence reached from college track meets to Rochester’s running community and a record-setting relay across the country.

Written by former RIT runner Jim Brunswick, My Way: The Life and Legacy of Pete Todd – Rochester Running Pioneer explores Todd’s coaching career from 1964 to 1996 and the lasting mark he left on his athletes.

“I wrote this biography to preserve the remarkable 32-year legacy he left on campus,” said Jim Brunswick, who had Todd as his running coach in the 1980s. “Pete’s impact on RIT athletics was profound: he compiled a legendary 150-8 dual meet record in track, guided 49 All-Americans, and led 14 cross country teams to the NCAA Division III finals. He truly shaped an unforgettable era of camaraderie and character for thousands of Tigers.”

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Todd’s teams once won 71 meets in a row. Yet his work in the sport extended well beyond college competition. In 1958, while still in high school, he helped establish the Rochester Track Club and became its first president. That organization preceded the Greater Rochester Running Club.

He also helped create the Rochester Marathon and organized Tuesday evening track meets that continue each summer, leaving local runners with opportunities that have outlasted his own career.

“He was truly a pioneer in Rochester running,” Brunswick said. “His footprint is everywhere in the local running community.”

His ability to attract major names was on display in 1973, when past and future Olympians Dave Wottle, Dick Buerkle, and Marty Liquori came to race at RIT. Wottle, then the reigning Olympic 800-meter champion, beat Buerkle in a special invitational mile.

“No one else could have pulled this off,” Brunswick said. “Pete was a master organizer and promoter.”

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Six years later, Todd took on a different challenge to mark RIT’s 150th anniversary. He joined 11 students and alumni for a 2,846-mile relay from California to Maryland, ending at RIT. Running continuous two-mile segments, the group completed the journey in 14 days, 4 hours and 8 minutes, earning a Guinness World Record for the fastest run across the United States.

For Brunswick, a 1990 graduate of RIT’s professional and technical communications program, the story reaches beyond race results. His own experience as one of Todd’s athletes provides a personal connection to the coach’s legacy.

Brunswick said “there is plenty there for non-runners and people who have no connection to RIT. This is a book about a man who, while incredibly polarizing, was wholeheartedly devoted to his athletes and left an indelible impact upon lives such as mine.”

Todd died in 2004 at age 87.