Ted Corbitt: The Father of Distance Running in America

In 1865 slavery was abolished in America. On that date African-Americans no longer had to ‘run underground’ to gain freedom. On that date they were “free to run” for no other reason than because they felt the natural instinct all human beings have to experience flight through their own will; through the desire to put one foot in front of the other with rapid succession. Unfortunately, because we don’t have to run from this oppression anymore we have stopped running altogether. I want to change this!

With this site my goal is to add a new tradition to the cultural way of living amongst African-Americans. I want to share with others the powerful gift that running is by relating an untold history of blacks in distance running. This is a sport deeply unexplored by minorities in America; and as a person of color heavily involved in the sport I have often asked myself why. I have come to the conclusion that it’s largely due to the many unfamiliar faces in the crowds of runners that children of color in America will see today, but can’t relate to on a personal level. In order to overcome this I felt that it was only right to find out if we had a history in this sport and to find a way to relay this history to others (for example,  this site). My aim in doing this is to create a foundation to build a new tradition of health and fitness amongst African-Americans and people of every ethnicity who may come across this site.

Through this site I hope to share knowledge about the sport and our place in it’s history and individuals succeding in the sport today that I hope will be enlightening and empowering. With all that may be written on the blank canvases of this site I hope to help many others, just like myself, run into the light, not from the oppression of slavery, but rather, from a new oppression . . . that of the curable and preventable diseases of diabetes and obesity. In order to be free at this moment in history we must now free ourselves from a traditional way of thinking and living . . . we must change the way we live in order to truly enjoy the freedom we so desparately hoped, fought for and gained in 1865. Lets run not because we have to, but because we can.