Alexander Egan '03: How Doc Odell Kept this Alum on Track

Sometimes the smallest things can make the biggest difference. When Foster, Rhode Island native Alexander Egan, ‘03 first met Moses Brown legend, King “Doc” Odell, little did he know the experience would change his life. “Doc heard of my knack for running and said, ‘Alex, run for me —I want to win our league championship and need your help,” Egan recalls.

Not only did the Moses Brown track team succeed that year, but Egan also discovered a deep love for running along with some life skills. “He was sort of old-fashioned as a coach,” Egan says. “We didn’t work on technical aspects so much as running together as a team. We’d do drills like lap repeats—things that would keep us together. It helped us build camaraderie, and running as a group helped us carry each other.”

Doc Odell also pushed Egan around every turn. “Every time I’d run by him, he’d say, ‘You can go faster,’ and encouraged me to do a little bit more,” he says.

Egan has continued to run—which he credits for helping him meet his wife. “A Moses Brown classmate, Nic Anderson ’03, introduced us, and one of our first dates was a run,” he says. “She was a runner and probably wouldn’t have dated me if I couldn’t run.” Now Egan runs daily in New York City and the team-building mentality has stuck: “We like to run as a family; even our two kids love it,” he says.

Egan also credits running and his time on the Moses Brown track with shaping his career. He worked for five years with a non-profit that focused on helping kids, adults, and veterans with disabilities thrive through sports. He’s since worked with two NYC-based non-profits doing similar work, helping to provide programs and public space in Central Park and Randall’s Island Park for running and other sports. Access to facilities has become pivotal for the local community—and reminds Egan of his love for the Moses Brown track.

“It was fundamental for everyone, whether on a sports team or in PE class — everyone would train on Doc’s track.” Egan recalls, “Every time I step foot on the track, I think of, and I am thankful for, Doc’s lifetime commitment to Moses Brown.”