The Kansas Ironman – Glenn Cunningham

Glenn Cunningham was born in Atlanta, Kansas on August 4, 1909. When he was merely 6 years old he was badly burnt along with his older brother, Floyd, in an accidental fire in his school. Whereas his brother succumbed to his burn injuries, life of Glenn also hung by a thread. However he miraculously survived to the amazement of his doctors but his legs were so badly burned that the doctors suggested amputation.

His mother and father declined the suggestion. Glenn had lost any motor ability waist down and was forced to be a cripple lifetime. But Glenn declined to be doomed by his fate and made up his mind to walk on his feet again. Both his parents supported him and massaged his legs daily in hope of some sensation or feeling in their little boy’s legs but to no avail. One day when his mother had taken him outside in his wheelchair he threw himself down and dragged his body on grass upto the fence in his yard. With the support of the fence he lifted himself with great difficulty and began dragging his lifeless lower body along the fence.

His mother encouraged him and this began as a daily practice. With his determination and his parents’ love and support Glenn began walking again. He recovered his strength in legs. He would often run just for the feel of being able to use his legs again and soon developed a passion for running By the age of 12, he had beaten all the local runners. He had won the battle of recovery but throughout his life he had to massage his legs and spend longer time in warm up exercises to maintain circulation in his deeply scarred legs. But this difficulty made him more determined.

In year 1933 he received the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States. In the same year he was nicknamed Kansas Ironman. In 1934, he set the world record for the mile run at 4:06.8, which stood for three years. He also set world records in the 800 m in 1936 and in the indoor mile in 1938.

A park is named after Cunningham has a park in his hometown of Elkhart, Kansas and the mile run at the Kansas Relays is named in his honor. In 1974, he was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame– a museum to salute Americans who have made important contributions in Track and Field.

This story of a little boy who survived miraculously from the fire, lost his ability to even stand on his own feet, achieving so much in life only because of his determination restores our faith in saying where there is a will there is a way. In life there are many occasions where we feel we may not be able to make a comeback or overcome some difficulty but we should always remember we can do anything when we make up our mind and remain firm on our goal.