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Ted Corbitt

1919–2007

United States

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Biography

Ted Corbitt (January 31, 1919 – December 12, 2007) was an American long-distance runner. The first African-American to run the marathon at the Summer Olympics (the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Finland) and the founding president of New York Road Runners, Corbitt is often called "the father of American long distance running." He was also an ultramarathon pioneer, helping to revive interest in the sport in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s. New York Times columnist Robert Lipsyte called Corbitt a "spiritual elder of the modern running clan".

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Biography text · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source checked 2026-10-13

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