Brave Hearts

Author(s): Kumarpal Desai
Publisher: Eye Care Foundation

Page 72

ANSA
Triumph Over Mind Gradually his muscles started gathering strength. He participated in a one mile race his school had organised and taking everyone by surprise, he won it, although he was still limping. He took only 4 minutes and 24.7 seconds to cover the stipulated distance. Thus Glen had left behind the tragedy he had met with in school, together with the
Fastest runner Glen Cunningham resulting torment.
This very lad who had lost all the fingers on his left foot had proved to be the fastest runner in the United States of America. He did this after 19 years from the date on which he had met with the accident in school. In 1934 he participated in a race organised by Kansas University and won it by establishing a new record. Two years later he stood second in the 1500 meter race in the Berlin Olympics and secured the silver medal. He covered the distance in 3 minutes and 48.4 seconds. Again, in 1938 he took part in a one mile race and established a record which stood intact for years thereafter. He could achieve this at a time when it was thought impossible for a young man to cover the distance of one mile in less than 4
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