Cunningham, Glenn

Glenn Cunningham, byname The Kansas Ironman, orThe Kansas Flyer, (born Aug. 4, 1909, Atlanta?, Kan., U.S.—died March 10, 1988, Menifee, Ark.), American middle-distance runner who repeatedly broke world and national records for the mile in the 1930s.

At the age of 7, Cunningham and his older brother Floyd were badly burned in a schoolhouse fire; Floyd died and Glenn was not expected to be able to walk. Cunningham overcame this adversity, running—and winning—races in high school, though he never ran particularly smoothly and his legs required extensive massage and lengthy warm-up throughout his career as a runner. He ran for the United States at the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, placing fourth in the 1500-metre race, and won the silver medal in the 1,500-metre race at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. He was the fastest miler in the Amateur Athletic Union in 1933, 1935, 1936, 1937, and 1938. In 1934 he set a world record that was not broken for three years, running the mile in 4:06.7. His last season of competition was 1940. Having attended the University of Kansas (B.A., 1933), University of Iowa (M.A., 1936), and New York University (Ph.D.), Cunningham taught physical education at Cornell College from 1940 to 1944 and then served in the navy for two years. In 1947 he established the Glenn Cunningham Youth Ranch, at which he helped thousands of troubled youths over a period of more than 30 years.