Dick Traum (November 18, 1940 – January 23, 2024) was an American disability runner and businessman who was the founder of the Achilles Track Club for disabled athletes. In 1976, he completed the

New York City Marathon The New York City Marathon, currently branded as the TCS New York City Marathon for sponsorship reasons, is an annual marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world, with 53,627 fini ...

, becoming the first runner to complete such an event with a

prosthetic In medicine, a prosthesis (: prostheses; from ), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through physical trauma, disease, or a condition present at birth (Congenital, congenital disord ...

leg after being the first at shorter distances. He also collaborated with Marathon founder Fred Lebow in drawing more disabled athletes into the marathon. In the 1980s he became the first amputee to finish a 100 km ultra event, in Poland. In 1993, Traum wrote ''A Victory for Humanity''.

Recognition

In 2010, Traum was inducted into the

National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, in Commack, New York, is dedicated to honoring American Jewish figures who have distinguished themselves in sports. Its objective is to foster Jewish identity through athletics, and to commemo ...

. The Achilles Track Club was renamed Achilles International in 2004. Dick remained the CEO for 37-years before retiring in 2019. He was inducted to the NYRR Hall of Fame in 2018. As of 2019, he'd run the marathon distance more than seventy times and was the oldest athlete from New York City to run that year's Boston Marathon.

Terry Fox Terrance Stanley Fox (July 28, 1958June 28, 1981) was a Canadian athlete, humanitarian, and cancer research activist. In 1980, having had one leg amputated due to cancer, he embarked on a cross-Canada run to raise money and awareness for can ...

credited reading an article about Traum's

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

running inspired his cross-Canada run for

cancer research Cancer research is research into cancer to identify causes and develop strategies for prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and cure. Cancer research ranges from epidemiology, molecular bioscience to the performance of clinical trials to evaluate ...

Personal life

Traum died on January 23, 2024, at the age of 83.

References

1940 births 2024 deaths American male long-distance runners American amputees American disabled sportspeople Jewish American track and field athletes 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-longdistance-athletics-bio-stub