Contact the author directly to purchase the book & ebooks

One Hundred Ten Years Running on the Banks of the Red Cedar

A Social History of Michigan State University Cross Country

Purchasing the Book

Full five-volume hard copy/soft cover set: $100.00

Individual hard copy/soft cover volume(s): $20.00 apiece

  • The $100 full five-volume total includes printing, handling, mailing and taxes. There will be no additional charges. Payment due upon receipt. Includes complementary (free) access to the e-book version.

  • The $20 per volume total includes printing, handling, mailing and taxes. There will be no additional charges. Payment due upon receipt. In addition to the hard copy of the requested volume(s), this option includes complementary (free) access to the e-book version.

Contact the author, Mark Havitz at msuxchistory@gmail.com, to order and request bank transfer information. Or send your name and preferred mailing address and mail your check payable to “Mark Havitz” to 324 Albert Street South, Southampton, ON Canada N0H 2L0 (Extra postage is necessary if mailing from the United States or other countries. Check with your local post office for the correct amount.)

Note: Payment by e-transfer or check only. Apps such as Venmo and Zelle are not set up to operate in Canada or handle cross border transactions.

Full five-volume e-book set: $60.00

Individual e-book volumes: $12.00 apiece

Contact the author, Mark Havitz at msuxchistory@gmail.com, to order and request bank transfer information. Or mail your check payable to “Mark Havitz” to 324 Albert Street South, Southampton, ON Canada N0H 2L0 (Extra postage is necessary if mailing from the United States or other countries. Check with your local post office for the correct amount.)

Upon receiving payment, a password or passwords will be sent allowing you to access and download the requested volume(s).

Note: Payment by e-transfer or check only. Apps such as Venmo and Zelle are not set up to operate in Canada or handle cross border transactions.

read more

Book Set Contents

A central thesis of this five-volume book set is that Michigan State was integral in establishing and shaping intercollegiate cross country competitions in the United States. Michigan State played the dominant role in nationalizing men’s intercollegiate cross country and a key role in establishing women’s cross country. This book endeavors to tell the story of every race comprising Michigan State University’s long and proud cross country history. In addition to focusing on great teams, athletes and coaches, the goal is to produce a history filled with human interest stories and some sense of the role that running played prior to athletes’ college careers, during their time at MSU and (for most) after they left campus. The book set includes 20 history-focused chapters and 18 social science-focused interludes. Distinctions between the history-focused and social science components are permeable.
The book set contains race-by-race accounts dating from 1907 through 2021. Because sport does not occur in a vacuum, these stories are infused with notes of broader historic and social interest. Often that broader coverage is included to provide context for the lived experiences of athletes and coaches, but a number of intersections and interactions are explored wherein team members play important roles in challenging societal norms related to race, gender, physical activity participation over the lifespan; as well as through the Great Depression, in wartime (20 MSU cross country alums died in wars spanning WWI through Korea), and other major nationally significant events including the aftermath of JFK’s assassination and the Larry Nassar sexual assault scandal. Because cross country is, more than any other intercollegiate sport, set within natural and built outdoor environments, place attachment also emerged as a dominant theme. In fact, for its first 50 years, Michigan State’s courses traversed the built portion of campus. With respect to experiential aspects of distance running, over a third of the book set is focused on social science rather than history per se, and hundreds of voices are heard via survey and interview responses. While generally a “happy” story, these volumes do not shy away from confronting controversial topics. As a result of the just-described breadth and depth of coverage, it is longer than most books on this topic.