Monthly Archives: December 2021

50 Years of Running: Why running is life

Posted on December 30, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

The Rails-To-Trails movement in Illinois started in the early 1980s. The most significant development in the Fox Valley where I lived was the conversion of the Great Western railroad tracks to a running and cycling path. Most of the training … Continue reading →

Posted in 10K, 13.1, 400 meter intervals, 400 workouts, 5K, anxiety, Christopher Cudworth, climbing, college, competition, cross country, healthy aging, it never gets easier you just go faster, life and death, religious liberty, running, running shoes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

50 Years of Running: The running rube factor

Posted on December 29, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

All through college, one of the keys to my self-esteem was running. A large chunk of personal identity was wrapped up on the sport and its year-round commitment to training and racing. Like many runners in those days, when I … Continue reading →

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50 Years of Running: The smell of candles burning at both ends

Posted on December 27, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

As a hormone-driven, partially obsessed early 1980s distance runner in his early 20s, I was constantly seeking partners in crime. One in particular, a best friend you might say, had followed a similar path from the same high school to … Continue reading →

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50 Years of Running: Packing and unpacking life

Posted on December 26, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

Moving back into your parent’s house after four years of college isn’t most people’s idea of a fun time. But given the timing of my return to Illinois to start a new job in the fall of 1980, I had … Continue reading →

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50 Years of Running: Chicago Time

Posted on December 24, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

I have an embarrassing confession to make about starting the job with Van Kampen Merritt in the late summer of 1980. On the first day of work, I was scheduled to show up at 208 S. LaSalle, the office headquarters … Continue reading →

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50 Years of Running: Detachments

Posted on December 23, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

Once the optometrist found the retinal detachment in my left eye, all the other stuff that occupied my mind fell away. I pushed him for information about how the condition came about. Was it trauma? I’d recently gotten hit in … Continue reading →

Posted in aging, Christopher Cudworth, college, competition, Depression, God, life and death, love, marathon, mental health, race pace, steeplechase, track and field, We Run and Ride Every Day, werunandride | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

50 Years of Running: Sorting through a box of slides

Posted on December 22, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

One of the most challenging aspects of life on the road doing admissions work was feeling disconnected from the core mission of Luther College. It all seemed abstract out there in the field; showing photos ins a binder, talking with … Continue reading →

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50 Years of Running: The Hardest Thing in the World

Posted on December 20, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

During the month of November, when traveling for admissions wore me down to a nub of a human being, I ceased trying to keep track of daily runs because it meant nothing. If you’ve ever run a race where you … Continue reading →

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50 Years of Running: Road Trippin’

Posted on December 18, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

On the 17th of September, 1979, I climbed into the beatup Chevy Monza that Luther College assigned me for road trips and drove the 5+ hours to the Chicago market for the first college fair of the fall season. For … Continue reading →

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50 Years of Running: What a fool believes

Posted on December 16, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

Somehow I managed to squeeze in a race back home in Illinois amid all the new obligations with the admissions job. The race raised funds for my high school cross country program, and I ran a solid 25:40 five-mile after … Continue reading →

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