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Mike Earley ran the New York City Marathon last month. Just don’t ask him his finishing time, jokes the retired chief executive of Bankers Trust Co.

Just shy of a year after his official retirement from banking, the 64-year-old is far from life’s sidelines.

Professionally, “I can’t say that I’m glad I missed what happened,” he said, referring to the financial crisis of the past year. “The company I was with was very well positioned to handle this (economic crisis). If I had to say one thing I miss from my former position: I was privy to a lot of information about what was going on.”

Earley said he “really appreciated” being able to work for the Ruan family.

“John Ruan III was an incredible guy to work for,” he said. “He gave me a great deal of autonomy. And when we disagreed occasionally, and when he was right – which happened – he didn’t say, ‘I told you so.’ He defended me, which is rare. He’s bright, and he knows his business. I appreciated the confidence he put in me.”

Personally, Earley’s first year off the payroll has contained some disappointments, he said, the saddest of which was the death of his 93-year-old mother. “But I’ve also had some very fun things happen to me,” one of the best being the birth of his first grandchild.

Earley, whose former employer has been repeatedly recognized for its leadership in promoting diversity, said he was struck by the “amazing diversity” he observed as he ran through the Big Apple’s five boroughs.

“The race course was lined with the residents of these boroughs. It was incredible to see that diversity, and that everyone was getting along,” he said. “It was incredibly uplifting.”

In addition to the experience of running among more than 45,000 marathoners, Earley said hearing the bands playing every few blocks was an unexpected treat.

Another enduring image was in Harlem, where an adult choir sang for the runners in front of their old neighborhood church. “They were impeccably dressed,” Earley said. “It created a bottleneck, because the runners would stop because it was so enticing.”

Earley, who experienced combat as an Army platoon officer in Vietnam, began his training regimen in March, following a program that started him out running six to seven miles a week, working up to about 45 miles a week.

Besides training for the marathon, Earley also has hiked the Grand Canyon this year, as well as tackling Colca Canyon in Peru six weeks before running in New York.

“The Grand Canyon was physically a lot more challenging than I thought it would be,” he said.

An avid reader, Earley is checking off titles from a growing reading list, using a Kindle reader that he’s absolutely crazy about. He’s also learning Spanish and taking personal computer courses. “I’m going to improve my skills on a PC, so I can do some of the things that I’ve relied on other people to do for so many years,” he said.

And yes, he has dipped his toe into social networking and can tweet and text. “I really don’t see the advantage of it, really,” he said. “If someone had a need to reach a lot of people on a regular basis, I could see how that might benefit them.”

Having been married for more than 35 years, Earley said retirement has been a “fabulous experience” to spend more time with his wife, Mary. “We’ve gotten to do a lot of things we had deferred until now.”

The really big adventure begins June 1, however, when Earley plans to embark from the San Juan Islands in Washington state on an eastbound cross-continental bicycle trip across the United States.

He’s planning other travel as well. Both avid cyclists, he and Mary plan to do some biking together in Europe, and he is looking forward to doing some sea kayaking off the coast of Florida.

Earley said he won’t be training for any more marathons, however.

“That experience was fantastic, and I would encourage others to do it,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed running and I’m going to continue running, but I don’t see making that kind of time commitment again.”