Tag Archives: running

50 Years of Running: U-Hauling Ass

Posted on November 19, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

Working summer jobs between school years was necessary to pay my way through college. That first summer I worked as a coach for the St. Charles Track Club but only earned $500 for the entire summer. The next year, I … Continue reading →

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50 Years of Running: Sophomoric self-perception

Posted on November 17, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

One of the most challenging aspects of being a runner is building a self-perception conducive to improvement. For starters, you must believe that it is possible to improve. Secondly, you must do the work necessary to improve. And finally, you … Continue reading →

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50 Years of Running: Go West Young Man

Posted on November 15, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

Heading into the cross country season of 1976, I elected to join the team training trip out west to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. The previous year’s trip to South Dakota provided compelling accounts of runs in the mountains. It … Continue reading →

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50 Years of Running: A Bird’s Eye View of Life

Posted on November 12, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

As college cross country season ended in the fall of 1976, I started thinking about what to do during January interim. The previous year I drew nudes for six hours a day. That was enlightening. But my other keen interest … Continue reading →

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50 Years of Running: Let’s steeple people.

Posted on November 9, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

The spring track season in 1976 broke typically cool, windy, and wet. Not great weather for any type of runner. The sprinters sought to avoid muscle pulls while the distance runners suffered in shorts through cold winds, puddles on the … Continue reading →

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50 Years of Running: A visit to the past, Warts and All

Posted on November 1, 2021 by Christopher Cudworth

This past weekend I traveled to Decorah, Iowa to watch the conference cross country championship held at Luther College, my alma mater. I joined two long-ago teammates, Paul Mullen and Dani Fjelstad, to have dinner on Friday night and watch … 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: 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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