Middle Distance Track Racing
Cummings was invited to several of the most prestigious track and field meets during the 1970s. He competed against Steve Prefontaine, Frank Shorter, Tony Waldrop, Marty Liquori, Filbert Bayi, Wilson Waigwa, John Walker (athlete), Steve Scott (athlete), Eamonn Coghlan, Dick Buerkle, and several other top tier runners of the era, besting everyone on this list at least once. He ran in the Millrose Games Wanamaker Mile in 1974, 1975, 1976, and 1977, winning the event in 1976 in a Millrose Games record time of 3:57.6. He won events at the Sunkist Invitational, the LA Times Indoor Games, the Jack in the Box Indoor Games, the Modesto Relays, and other events.
On April 25, 1976, Cummings won the Penn Relays 1500 Meter event at Franklin Field in Philadelphia in 3:38.9.
In 1976 he won the 3,000 meter event at Los Angeles's Sunkist Invitational Track Meet in 8:29.6, just five seconds off Steve Prefontaine's American Record set at the same meet the year before. In 1977 he won the Sunkist Invitational indoor mile in 3:57.2. Also in 1977, Cummings, representing the USA, won the mile at Canada's Tri-Country indoor track and field meet, competing against Canada and the Soviet Union.
In January 1978 at the Muhammad Ali Track and Field Invitational at the Long Beach Arena in California, Cummings broke the indoor American record for the 1500 meters by .4 with a time of 3:39.8.
A year later, in January 1979 at the same Muhammad Ali Track and Field Invitational at the Long Beach Arena in California, both John Walker and Cummings finished under the indoor world record for the 1500 meters by .4 and .2 seconds respectively. Walker set a world record with a time of 3:37.4. Cummings set an American Record with a time of 3:37.6.
Cummings ran at a time when there was very little financial support for athletes after college. When attending track meets, several athletes would share the same hotel room, sleeping on floors, and carpool together to save costs. He worked at a steel mill rebuilding open hearth furnaces to support his family and ran for the Tobias Striders, Beverly Hills Striders and Pacific Coast track clubs to maintain his amateur status.
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