Category Archives: cross country

50 Years of Running: Fear and Loathing in Cross country

Posted on August 31, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

I was too young to have read anything by Hunter S. Thompson when I was a freshman in high school. But it would have been good for me to absorb some of the fearless antics of the Gonzo journalist that … Continue reading →

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50 Years of Running: Competitive instincts

Posted on August 30, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

After the first few days of cross country practice as a freshman in high school, the team began to sort itself into shape. Every member of the Kaneland team had the goal of making the Top 7. After a week … Continue reading →

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50 Years of Running: Hilltop Encounters

Posted on August 26, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

Perhaps a couple weeks into that first cross country season in 1971 at Kaneland High School, our team piled into a yellow school bus and traveled east for ten miles to a park known as Johnson’s Mound Forest Preserve. That … Continue reading →

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50 years of running: The appeal of discipline

Posted on August 25, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

As a kid I wasn’t happy about being told what to do. My father was a bit authoritarian in his approach, and something in me always fought back. Classic father-son stuff, really. Nothing that millions of kids in the 60s … Continue reading →

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50 years of running: Finding joy in being tested

Posted on August 24, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

The first few weeks of freshman cross country season in 1971 were rife with tests of many kinds. Building endurance takes time. Yet the days keep coming despite sore legs and a growing sense of overall fatigue. Our coaches Rich … Continue reading →

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50 years of running: An introduction to pain

Posted on August 23, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

This is the first in a series of articles chronicling fifty years of running since I went out for cross country as a freshman in high school. Some point in the middle of August 1971, my father drove me from … Continue reading →

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My longtime friend the red-tailed hawk

Posted on August 4, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

Heading into my senior year at Luther College, my fitness was good and I’d used the summer to clean up my act. I cut off the long, thick hair that shrouded my face. Dumped the thick glasses and got a … Continue reading →

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Turns out I was only partially correct about hosting cross country meets at Kane County Forest Preserves

Posted on August 2, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

Like all half-assed journalists, I didn’t really confirm the facts about whether cross country meets will still be hosted at Kane County Forest Preserves. After receiving a nicely worded email from Alan Edgecombe correcting me about the status of cross … Continue reading →

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Changing management practices spell the end of hosting country meets at county forest preserves

Posted on July 30, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

A friend and former cross country coach named Jeff Leavey noted on Facebook that the Kane County Forest Preserve district board voted to boot all cross country programs out of the parks starting in 2021. The board may have an … Continue reading →

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Going fast and built to last

Posted on July 1, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

The cycling season has ramped up kind of slow for me this year. For the last few seasons, we’ve gone to a triathlon camp that kicks fitness into gear. Like most athletes, I need that sustained period of training to … Continue reading →

Posted in aging, aging is not for the weak of heart, Christopher Cudworth, climbing, college, competition, cross country, cycling, cycling the midwest, healthy aging, healthy senior, it never gets easier you just go faster, riding, running, triathlete, triathlon, triathlons | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment