Tag Archives: distance running

50 Years of Running: Moving meditation

When I landed the job as an editorial writer for the Daily Herald, nothing excited me more than producing weekly columns for publication in the newspaper. I’d first done a column back in 1980 when I was just out of … Continue reading

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50 Years of Running: Circling back

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: Of Stinky Feet and Blinding Stress

In 1995 I was thirty-eight years old with a wife and two kids, and suddenly, out of work. The ENVIRONS business I’d cobbled together with a spate of contracts fizzled out with the failure of the development company to land … Continue reading

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50 Years of Running: Competition’s Son, Part 5

Not long after our family moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, my mother made connections with another mom whose son was the same age. That afternoon, she drove me to their house on Golf Road across the street from the Meadia Heights … Continue reading

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50 Years of Running: Transition time

Forty years after my 1984 engagement as an essentially ‘full-time runner,’ I got interested in triathlon and started competing in Sprint and Olympic distance events. I quickly learned that the most awkward part of triathlons are the transitions, those moments … Continue reading

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50 Years of Running: Exhaust fumes and lane changes

By November of 1984, I’d raced enough that by the 17th of November when I ran a 20:17 four-mile… that should have been enough to call it quits. But then my former coach and then-business associate Trent Richards got involved … Continue reading

Posted in 10K, 13.1, 400 meter intervals, 5K, anxiety, Christopher Cudworth, cross country, mental health, mental illness, race pace, racing peak, track and field | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

50 Years of Running: The Curse of Marathon Santa

In late September ’84, I was picking races closer to the suburbs as my time living in the city was coming to a close. Spotting an event listed in the Warrenville area, I signed up on race morning and lined … Continue reading

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50 Years of Running: Getting past the crap and the flies

The year was half over, and running races in March, April, May, and June was fun, but the brain and body needed a rest. By late July of 1984, I was ready for a break from racing, but there were … Continue reading

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50 Years of Running: Qualifying time

Coming off a less-than-stellar race like the one I had in Elgin, where a side stitch slowed me down, is tough on the short-term confidence. But while I was second-guessing the ten-mile race in Elgin, I heard that there was … Continue reading

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50 Years of Running: “Faster than you”

On April 15 of 1984, I raced on home turf for the Running Unlimited store in Arlingtonn Heights. Though it had rained overnight, and dawn arrived with 43-degree temps, I was eager as hell to run a five-mile race after … Continue reading

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