He received the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States in 1933.

When he was eight years old, his legs were very badly burned in an explosion caused by his brother accidentally putting gasoline instead of kerosene in the can at his school.

His favorite Bible verse was Isaiah 40:31: "But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not be faint."

Glenn worried about the strength of his legs burned in his youth, so he started slow – running in the pack.

After retiring from competitions in 1940 he served as director of physical education at Cornell College in Iowa for four years.

Later he opened the Glenn Cunningham Youth Ranch in Kansas, where he and his wife helped 10,000 needy and abused children.