Photos And Stories
A Tribute to Ted Corbitt on His Birthday

A Tribute to Ted Corbitt on His Birthday

Jan 28, 2026

Ted Corbitt head shot black and white looking to right.

Ted Corbitt, often called “the father of long-distance running,” was the first president of New York Road Runners. He was an incredible athlete who ran more than 170,000 miles in his lifetime and completed 223 marathons and ultra-marathons, winning 30 of them. His marathon personal best was 2:26:44.

Ted made a wide range of contributions to distance running that go far beyond his competitive feats. In addition to serving as president of NYRR from 1958 to 1960 and as president of the Road Runners Club of America from 1960 to 1961, he pioneered the use of tools and techniques to accurately measure race courses, was a physical therapist for 44 years, and advocated for age group running categories to help runners stay in the sport for decades rather than retire from competition. He believed that running should be inclusive for all.

Early Life

Ted was born on a farm near Dunbarton, South Carolina on January 31, 1919, the grandson of formerly enslaved people. The area had little electricity and few cars or paved roads. As a child, Ted often plowed fields and picked cotton. When school was in session he walked or ran two miles each way to attend. Ted's family stressed hard work and getting an education.

The family moved when Ted was 8, first to Tennessee, and later to Cincinnati. Ted ran—and won—his first race, a 60-yard dash, at age 13, barefoot and wearing corduroy pants.

Around the same time, he saw Ralph Metcalfe, the 1932 Olympic 100-meter silver medalist, run a race. The experience had a powerful effect, giving Ted a glimpse of where running could take him. Ted joined his high school track team, running the 880-yard (half mile) and mile relay events. In his senior year he finished fourth in the 880-yard city championship.

He enrolled at the University of Cincinnati in 1938 and ran the mile, half mile, and mile relay. Though Ohio was a northern state, segregationist customs often prevailed. As a Black man, Ted could find himself barred from competing if a white competitor, coach, or official objected.

Drawn to Long Distances

Black and white photo of Ted Corbitt and another competitor with spectators in the 1972 New York City Marathon

Ted Corbitt competing in the 1972 New York City Marathon, held on a course that he measured.

Soon after Ted graduated from college, the U.S. entered World War II. While waiting to be drafted, he watched the legendary Swedish distance runner Gunder Hagg run a 2-mile race in Cincinnati. Inspired, Ted trained for a 30K (18.6 miles). The race never happened, but Ted was transformed by the experience of running long distances.

After serving in the Pacific, Ted returned home in 1946 and moved to New York City, where he married Ruth Butler and started graduate school in physical therapy at New York University. His physical therapy career would last over 40 years.

In 1947 he joined the racially integrated New York Pioneer Club. He was intrigued by the marathon, and in 1951 he ran his first, the Boston Marathon, finishing in 2:48:42. (He would run Boston a total of 22 times and the New York City Marathon 18 times.) He qualified for the U.S. Olympic team for the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, becoming the first Black American Olympian to compete at the marathon distance.

Ted’s career in marathons and ultramarathons is legendary, and his training accomplishments are extraordinary. For many years he ran between 20 and 40 miles a day, often by commuting to and from work on foot and doing 31-mile loops around Manhattan on the weekends. He recorded occasional training blocks of over 1,000 miles in a single month.

Everything about distance running fascinated Ted, and he constantly tested his physical and mental limits. He generously shared his accumulated knowledge and wisdom with others, believing there were no secrets among runners, even the fiercest competitors.

Other Contributions

Ted Corbitt Loop sign in Central Park

Ted’s many contributions to New York Road Runners include measuring countless race courses, including the original New York City Marathon course in Central Park in 1970 and the five-borough course adopted in 1976 and still used (with very minor changes) today.

Ted completed his last ultra-marathon at age 81, running 303 miles in six days. He died in 2007 at age 88.

The Ted Corbitt Loop in Central Park and the annual NYRR Ted Corbitt 15K race pay tribute to Ted, but no monument or event can fully capture his incredible achievements.