Never Quit

Glenn Cunningham (1909–1988), a world-champion middle-distance runner, is considered by many the best American miler of all time. When Cunningham was seven, a fire in his school in Rolla, Kansas, left him so badly burned he was never expected to walk again. Doctors feared infection and wanted to amputate both legs. He would be bedridden for almost two years. But with courage, tenacity, and faith, he eventually became the world record holder for the mile. After setting a new state record for the mile as a high school senior, Cunningham enrolled at the University of Kansas in 1930. He became the university’s first NCAA track champion and ran the 1500-meter event at the 1932 summer Olympics in Los Angeles—a celebrity while only a junior in college. In 1934 Cunningham set the world record for the mile, and in 1936 returned to the Olympic stage at the historic Berlin games. In 1974 he was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame, and in 1978 he was honored as the most outstanding track and field athlete to perform in Madison Square Garden’s 100-year history. Cunningham’s monumental life, told in his own words, will resonate with Kansans, athletes, and anyone who finds hope in the resilience of the human spirit.