Author : Arpan DeAngelo
Comment:
I am sure many have heard the sad news of Ted Corbitt’s passing on Dec. 12. He was an immortal in the world of long distance running and a very humble and kind human being. The following is just one of many tributes that I am sure will soon follow from myself and from others as well. Ted was very good friends with Sri Chinmoy, a spiritual leader who promoted long distance running for many decades and who lived in NYC as did Ted. He also just recently passed away and Ted had sent a wonderful tribute for him which we will share in a future post.
Ted Corbitt- A Running Legend, by Arpan DeAngelo
Ted Corbitt was a long time marathon/ultramarathon runner, born in 1919,(although some places list his birth year as 1920, Ted told me that it was actually 1919), in Dunbarton, South Carolina, USA. Called ‘the father of American distance running’, his exploits in marathon running and ultra-marathons (distances longer than 26 miles 385 yds) contributed substantially to the popularity of long-distance running in the USA.
Ted always trained quite seriously and usually quite hard. He ran in international ultra races often against much younger men. He usually finished among the top five and often set American records in the process. By profession a physiotherapist, he maintained his fitness long after most have given up competitive efforts. His stamina and longevity are legendary and are not likely to be equaled. At age 54 he ran his 175th marathon in Boston in a time of 2:49•16, less than one minute slower than his first marathon 23 years earlier. (His fastest marathon time was 2:26•44 in 1958.) He held the American record at 25 mi, at the marathon distance, and at 40 and 50 mi. He also was a member of the U.S. Olympic Team in 1952 and ran the marathon the same year that Emil Zatopek won it.
Ted was very good friends with Sri Chinmoy and some of us on the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team who were fortunate enough to spend some time with him both on and off the race course. His most recent records were set in our six-day races where at the age of 80 he completed 300 miles of walking in six days!
Talking to Ted in October when I invited him to Sri Chinmoy’s Memorial week, he said he could not make it because of some lower back pain he thought he incurred from working out in the gym recently. Even at age 87 he was walking and weightlifting regularly. Sound familiar?
He did have much in common with Sri Chinmoy in that he did not let age limit his ability to strive and achieve in the world of physical discipline. Sri Chinmoy once referred to Ted as the ‘runner-saint.’ Ted was a soft spoken person who really lit up when the conversation turned to running and racing. Even as an octogenarian he could rattle off races with dates, names, results and times with no hesitation.
Ted was one of the founding fathers of the New York Road Runner’s Club, it’s first President, and one of the main organizers of the first NYC Marathon in all five boroughs. He has run over 200 marathons and ultramarathons and was inducted into the Ultrarunning Hall of Fame a few years ago.
These are just some of the things I could think about Ted off the top of my head right now as I wished to offer something immediately after hearing about his death today. Soon there will be many more tributes and stories from myself and others who were fortunate to have met Ted. If any of the ultrarunners who read this would like to say something about Ted and their encounters with him, please do. You can also visit this link to read a story I wrote about a race Ted and I did together ,which was actually a race dedicated to his accomplishment in 1973 of achieving the American 24 Hour Race record at age 54. We ran a 24 hour race in 1993 to honor this achievement and then again ten years later in 2003. Ted ran or walked in both races the whole 24 hours! He was 84 years old when he walked 69 miles in the last one. Check out this link for that story:
http://www.arpan.us/running/ted-corbitt-race/
Here is another link to an interview that Trishul did with Ted in 1988 which is very interesting and informative as well. Enjoy! It will definitely get you runners out and training again!
http://www.ultrarunning.com/ultra/features/profiles/ted-corbitt-an-ultrarunni.shtml
More to come…
Gratefully,
Arpan DeAngelo
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