New York Times columnist Robert Lipsyte called Corbitt a "spiritual elder of the modern running clan".

[6] In a Runner's World feature honoring lifetime achievement, writer Gail Kislevitz called Corbitt a "symbol of durability and longevity".

He graduated from Woodward High School in 1938 and attended the University of Cincinnati, where he received a bachelor's degree in education in 1942.

Due to the racial discrimination common at the time, he was sometimes banned from track meets when white athletes refused to compete against him, nor was he sometimes able to stay in the same lodgings while traveling to competitions, even in the South during the 1950s.

After army service in World War II, Corbitt earned a graduate degree in physical therapy on the G.I.

He remained a nationally competitive runner well into his fifties, until bronchial asthma limited his ability to compete at the elite level.

In the 1974 race, he wore patches and wires on his chest for a medical experiment done by San Francisco physician-researcher and pioneer female marathoner, Joan Ullyot.

[10] For many years, Corbitt ran more than 20 miles a day from his home near Broadway and the Harlem River, in The Bronx, New York City, to his office in downtown Manhattan.

At his peak, Corbitt ran up to 200 miles a week, far more than almost any other distance runner, though workouts by his English contemporary, Arthur Keily, mirrored his exhausting regimen.

In the early 1960s, Corbitt's influence was second to none in the adoption of precision measurement and certification of road race courses in the United States.

Corbitt's measurement method involved carefully calibrating a bicycle wheel, then riding the courses with it, mechanically counting the number of revolutions.