Ray Blum

Ray Blum competed for the Paterson Skating Club, but excelled in both speed skating and cycling. He began cycling at the Nutley Velodrome, where he trained prior to being drafted and transferred to the Great Lakes Naval Station. After serving in World War II, Blum attended the Newark College of Engineering at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), graduating with an engineering degree in 1950. But he continued to compete in both sports, winning the US Cycling Omnium Championship in 1949, and in speed skating, he tied for first at the 1950 North American outdoor championships and 1952 North American indoor championship. He is a member of the NJIT Highlanders’ Hall of Fame and the US Speedskating Hall of Fame. Blum and his wife later settled in Downey, California where he continued to ride bikes and race some into his 70s.

Personal Bests: 500 – 43.7 (1948); 1500 – 2:23.4 (1948); 5000 – 8:54.4 (1948).