[1] Born in Hollywood, California and raised in Ventura, Larrabee was a young running talent in the mid-1950s.

In 1952, his athletic performances earned him a scholarship at the University of Southern California, from which he graduated as a geology major.

Larrabee also ran the second leg on United States gold medal winning 4 × 400 m relay team that won in the world record time of 3:00.7.

After the Tokyo Olympics Larrabee worked as a mathematics teacher at James Monroe High School, ran a beverage distributing company with his brother and worked part-time as Adidas’ U.S. shoe representative to track and field, a position that allowed him to travel and keep connected to the sport.

Larrabee remained physically active well after his running career had wound down, taking up tennis, scuba diving, skiing, hiking (for which he raised llamas as pack animals) and mountain climbing.