“Tenía un impulso interior”: Ted Corbitt, esfuerzo y comunidad

Born on January 31, 1919, Ted Corbitt was the first Black American runner to compete in the Olympic marathon and the first president of New York Road Runners. He completed an incredible 223 marathons and ultramarathons in his career—winning 30 of them—and ran more than 170,000 lifetime miles. He was also an innovative physical therapist, the inventor of accurate and reliable methods of measuring race courses, and a champion of inclusivity.

This year on the 106th anniversary of Ted’s birth, we share some of Ted’s own words about running, and others’ words about his gifts to the running community.

Running and Effort

Ted was known for the effort he put into his running, pushing himself to the brink of what his body could handle. As his words below attest, he had a fascination for testing the limits of human endurance.

“I had an inner drive that kept renewing itself.” – The New York Times, 1978

“I never had an excuse to stop, other than the fact that I was suffering. And that’s not good enough.” – Runner’s World, 1978

“To get really fit for competitive purposes you have to put your body under a lot of stress. That’s what training is. You have to suffer a bit.” – SportsWise N.Y., 1981

“The marathon demands patience and a willingness to stay with it. You must be willing to suffer and keep on suffering. On a good day, the running seems to flow effortlessly. On a bad day, it’s the pain that flows.” – First Marathons by Gail Kislevitz, 1998

“I sort of used myself as a human laboratory, but it was no big deal, because I was only doing what I loved.” – Running Times, 2002

Running and Community

Ted gave generously to others through his running, encouraging his competitors, shared training and medical advice advice freely, and creating course measurement techniques that revolutionized road racing.

“Ted Corbitt was generous with his time and attention whenever he received requests for information on training, racing, injuries, and the running lifestyle… Ted remained humble when it came to his own accomplishments. He seemed more interested in how other runners were training and racing. For my father, access to his running hero... must have been too good to be true!” – Ed Burns, son of NYRR founding member Joe Burns

“Back in the day, Ted was our primary source of information on all things to do with running: Should I wear long sleeves today? How much should I drink during the race? What should I do about this nagging pain in my hip? Ted in his quiet way was always there to help.” – George Hirsch, NYRR board chair emeritus

“In a race running alongside Ted, hanging on for dear life, I started to fall off the pace. I could actually feel him reach back and try to pull me back to the pace, without saying a word… How lucky I have been to have run so many miles with him.” – Gary Muhrcke, 1970 New York City Marathon champion

“The way I think about him is the sense of relationship we had… I think the joy we found exploring new ideas together has become a meaningful part of my past and I treasure it greatly.” – Peter Roth, NYRR board member emeritus

Learn more about Ted Corbitt:

NYRR blog posts

NYRR Hall of Fame 

Ted Corbitt Archives, maintained by Ted's son, Gary Corbitt