Jon and Bryan discuss the early days of running in New York City, as well as the pivotal role Ted Corbitt played in so much of what running is today.
Want to help us grow the show? Leave us a Rating and Review!
We talk with historian Gary Corbitt about his father’s remarkable career and the early days of running in New York City.
Ted Corbitt and the Early Days of Running
- How Gary’s childhood mirrored the early days of running in New York City
- The importance of the New York Pioneer Club, founded in Harlem in 1936, in creating an integrated running organization well before the Civil Rights era or Jackie Robinson’s integration in Major League Baseball
- The surprising connections between Ted Corbitt and Jackie Robinson
- The experience of being a black runner in the 1940s and 1950s in New York City, and how we went from suspect to respect with some local police
- His experience running on the University of Cincinnati track team and the challenges of competing in the segregated south
- How he ran his first marathon at age 32, ran in the Olympics at 33, and ran the London to Brighton race—his first ultramarathon—at the age of 43
- How Ted was a master physical therapist and used his knowledge to overcome the many injuries he faced during his career due to over-training, often going over 300 miles per week
- His role in perfecting the wheel-based measurement system still used today to measure courses and ensure accuracy
- The many forgotten people who helped to create and grow the sport, and the many forgotten black distance runners who preceded Ted Corbitt
- How Ted Corbitt was one of the inaugural inductee’s into the US Distance Running Hall of Fame, along with Frank Shorter, Bill Rodgers, Joan Benoit, and Kathrine Switzer
Thoughts on Running and Preserving History Today
- The efforts the National Black Marathoner’s Association is making to work with major marathons to get more black people running
- The amazing collection of letters Ted Corbitt left behind, and Gary’s plan to publish them all together in a book
- His goal to inspire new historians to help document the history or running as well as the milestones being made today
- His goal to create the Ted Corbitt Institute for Running History Research to support historians and historical research
- And finally, how Go Be More means that when you see a need and you can fill it, you need to do so
If you liked this episode, check out our interviews with NBMA President Tony Reed and coach/promoter Tracy Sundlun.
And, you can now get these show notes sent directly to your email. Sign up here!
Recorded August 21, 2020.
References:
Ted Corbitt: An American Pioneer - tedcorbitt.com
Ted Corbitt - Pioneer - Facebook
New York Road Runners - NYRR.org
Road Runners Club of America - RRCA.org
Guest:
Gary Corbitt - @corbittg
Hosts:
Bryan Green - @sendaibry, Go Be More Blog
Jon Rankin - @chasejonrankin, Go Be More
Links:
Subscribe on your favorite player: