Tag Archives: cross country

50 Years of Running: First steps to clarity

Posted on November 26, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

Coming off the two semesters that my friends called “Cud’s weird year,” I arrived home at the farmhouse where our family lived for a year and took a hard look in the mirror. My hair was so thick and long … Continue reading →

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50 Years of Running: First, a flight. Then I woke up dead.

Posted on November 2, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

Following a successful conference meet, our team earned a trip to Nationals out in Boston, Massachusetts. We’d swept the top five spots at the IIAC race and our coach Kent Finanger followed through on getting us an entry to the … Continue reading →

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50 Years of Running: A Perfect Score for the Ages

Posted on October 28, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

The 1975 season saw plenty of jostling among the top ten runners to remain in the Top 7. Everyone had their ups and downs, but one runner in particular, my roommate Keith Ellingson, started coming into his own. At a … Continue reading →

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50 Years of Running: JV and The Dedicated Crew

Posted on October 27, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

Those first few weeks of cross country competition as a freshman in college always features ups and down. At our most important early season meet, the Luther All-American Invite, I ran a credible 21:23 four-mile on the rolling home course. … Continue reading →

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50 Years of Running: Logging miles, swapping tales

Posted on October 25, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

The hours spent running with twenty-four guys proved to be great way to get to know people that freshman year in college. While dorm life was a rush of introductions and a socially manic environment by nature, running cross country … Continue reading →

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50 Years of Running: Sweet consolation

Posted on October 19, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

When indoor track rolled around in the winter of 1974, our track team moved over to an elementary building called Davis School five blocks from the high school. There we engaged in an intense series of proprioceptive exercises under the … Continue reading →

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50 Years of Running: Full Circle and Football Fantasies

Posted on October 18, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

After eighteen meets during the regular season in 1974, it was time to run in Districts, the first toward going downstate. In my case, that race would bring me full circle to the Kaneland High School cross country course at … Continue reading →

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50 Years of Running: Jousting Knights

Posted on October 15, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

One of the unique aspects of cross country running in the 1970s is that dual meets were held between every team in the league. The Upstate Eight Conference consisted of St. Charles, Elgin, Elgin Larkin, Wheaton Central, East Aurora, West … Continue reading →

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50 Years of Running: Picture this

Posted on October 13, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

Following a couple of early season dual meet wins, I lined up for the start of the Plainfield Invitational. The race was not held on the golf course usually recruited to host the school’s races. Its new course was on … Continue reading →

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50 Years of Running: Another Turn of the Page

Posted on October 11, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

After a largely uneventful junior year spring track season, in which my mile and two-mile times barely improved year-over-year, I stumbled into the summer season not quite knowing what to do with my time. We had no organized summer run … Continue reading →

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