Tag Archives: runner

50 Years of Running: That First Varsity Win

During the 1972 cross country season, our top runner Bill Creamean fought back problems most of the year. Despite his struggles, he led us in the early meets and at the end of the season. But during the middle, he … Continue reading

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50 Years of Running: Turning dreams into reality

During the 1972 cross country season at Kaneland High School, the program started to fulfill its potential in new ways. The Varsity and Sophomore programs both finished with 14-3 records for the year. The schedule of 17 dual and triangular … Continue reading

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50 Years of Running: the anger factor

As fifteen-year-old kid during the summer of 1972, I was frustrated by the fact that I’d sustained a chipped bone in my elbow that erased the summer baseball season. Neither could I go out and run with the cast on. … Continue reading

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50 Years of Running: Freshman results

The Kaneland Cross Country team competed in 21 meets in 1971, my freshman year in high school. That wasn’t just the number of teams we competed against during duals and triangulars.That’s the total number of races we ran. The weekly … Continue reading

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50 Years of Running: Fear and Loathing in Cross country

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

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

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: Finding joy in being tested

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

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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Going fast and built to last

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