Category Archives: cross country

50 Years of Running: coming to grief through soccer

Posted on April 18, 2023 by Christopher Cudworth

In the five years leading up to my late wife’s diagnosis of ovarian cancer, I experienced a period of grief related to my own physical and mental health. During one of the last years my daughter played soccer, her coach … Continue reading →

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50 Years of Running: Going Big Time

Posted on April 12, 2023 by Christopher Cudworth

After the 9/11 tragedy rocked just about everything in American life, people looked for normalcy just about any way they could find it. At the same time, the newspaper industry in which I worked was getting slammed right and left … Continue reading →

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50 Years of Running: Circling back

Posted on March 2, 2023 by Christopher Cudworth

Back when I lived in Paoli, Pennsylvania (182-83) during a short stint with the marketing department at Van Kampen Merritt in Philadelphia, I joined a great group of runners through the Runner’s Edge running store. Most of those guys, the … Continue reading →

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50 Years of Running: Transfer of Excellence

Posted on December 1, 2022 by Christopher Cudworth

During my early thirties, I came up with a personal motivational concept called “transfer of excellence.” The idea centered around taking the best things you’ve learned from doing one thing and applying it to another. I wanted to carry over … Continue reading →

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50 Years of Running: Gamesmanship and sandbagging

Posted on November 10, 2022 by Christopher Cudworth

As an advertising salesperson, I not only competed against the previous year’s sales numbers in my territory. The daily game included competing with other salespeople and also other print publications and radio stations in the Fox Valley. The towns we … Continue reading →

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50 Years of Running: Eighth-grade realities

Posted on August 1, 2022 by Christopher Cudworth

Despite my love of laughter and being considered funny if I could make that happen, my anxious nature also meant grappling with a conflicted mind. I loved making friends but worried about what they thought of me. I worked hard … Continue reading →

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50 Years of Running: Becoming a Midwestern boy

Posted on July 20, 2022 by Christopher Cudworth

As our family drove west through Ohio and Indiana toward our new home in Illinois, the land flattened out and the trees disappeared into distant blue clumps dotting the horizon. I’d been to Chicago once as a small child, but … Continue reading →

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50 Years of Running: Formative youth experiences

Posted on July 12, 2022 by Christopher Cudworth

By the time I reached sixth grade, I’d earned a reputation as one of the better athletes in the grade. I recall being invited to a basketball clinic at the high school where the coaches took a first look at … Continue reading →

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50 Years of Running: Competition’s Son and the power of a right arm

Posted on July 11, 2022 by Christopher Cudworth

Nothing mattered more to me in elementary school than the playground. After sitting inside the classroom for a couple hours, we’d be released to go outside the do the things we loved. We played kickball on the macadam behind Willow … Continue reading →

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50 Years of Running: Competition’s Son, Part 3

Posted on June 17, 2022 by Christopher Cudworth

The advent of DNA genealogy and its revelations make it practical these days to understand family history even to the point of health risks and almost pinpoint accuracy about ethnic origins. While those scientific tools are helpful, they never tell … Continue reading →

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