52: Charlie Trayer – 1980s Ultrarunning Legend

By Davy Crockett  Charlie Trayer, of Reading, Pennsylvania, was one of the greatest “short-range” American ultrarunners of the 1980s.  During his ultrarunning career, he accumulated at least fifteen ultra wins from 1981-1990, including several national championships. He was known for bolting out into the lead like a “wild banshee” at the start of a race with a “kamikaze attitude” no matter what the distance. It was a winning strategy that he used very effectively. Trayer went from running in the Olympic Marathon Trials to ultrarunning. He was one of the very few elite American ultrarunners of the 1980s who competed against the best runners in the world internationally. He is credited for bringing American ultrarunning to the world stage, and became both feared and greatly respected by runners in the ultrarunners in Europe. He was definitely a runner to watch. In 1987 he was named the Ultrarunner of the year by Ultrarunning Magazine and was honored also in 1987 as the first recipient of the TAC Ted Corbitt Award. He was easy to pick out and known for his bright red hair and beard. At one time he was described as a cross between a leprechaun and Yosemite Sam. Raymond Trayer - 1936 Dorothy Trayer - 1941 Charles Anthony Trayer was born September 14, 1954 in Richmond, Indiana. His father was Raymond Steiger Trayer (1916-2012), and mother was Dorothy M. Coldren Trayer (1922-1971). His ancestors lived for generations in Pennsylvania. Charlie’s father, Ray was highly educated with a degree in philosophy and religion. As he studied religions, he decided to join the The Religious Society of Friends, commonly called the "Quakers." In 1941, Ray married Dorothy of Hershey Pennsylvania. She was employed at a local doctor’s office and studying as a laboratory technician. Ray believed in nonviolence and during the World War II years, the young couple moved to North Carolina where Ray served in a civilian public service camp and Dorothy worked as a secretary at a nearby college. In 1951, the Trayers moved to Richmond, Indiana, where Ray was employed as the manager of a farm at Earlham College, a private Quaker school. The Trayers lived on the farm, which was stocked with pigs, cattle, horses, and used for teaching agricultural science. Charlie’s childhood Charlie was born into the family in 1954, joining his older siblings, Susan, Alex and Tim. Always in a hurry, he arrived six weeks early, and spent the first few weeks of life in an incubator. In 1955 Ray left his position as manager of the farm, taking a teaching position in the college’s school of agricultural science. The Trayers moved to their own 45-acre farm northwest of Richmond. Charlie was raised in the Quaker religion. Susan and Alex Trayer - 1960 When Charlie was four years old, a fire devastated the Trayer farm, destroying their large barn and a hog house. Two fire trucks came to battle the flames. They had difficulty getting to the fire because of all the spectators who came to watch the flames. It was reported, “No livestock was lost. Quick thinking by Alex Trayer, the 11-year-old son, saved a truck which was parked in the barn. Young Trayer drove the truck out of the burning barn as soon as he noticed the fire.” When Charlie was about age seven, in 1961, the Trayer family sold their farm and  moved to a farm at Hershey, Pennsylvania. Hershey is the home of the famous chocolate company. Milton S. Hershey built his famous company there, and in 1905 and a well-planned city was built there. Living on a farm, Charlie was very active and had a newspaper route, delivering by foot and by bicycle. He worked hard on the farm and had to keep up with the baler on foot. All this contributed to building up his running strength as a child. As a Quaker, meditation also taught him how to focus, be stronger, and to endure. As a child, he went by the name of "Tony Trayer," using his middle name and he was very active in cub scouts.