Cross country runners are used to long distances. For Bucknell senior Henry Didden, a cross country course is a small dash compared to his journey from California to Pennsylvania. But he and the Bison are sure glad that the trek was undertaken. Didden developed into the cross country and distance squad's headliner, and the runner has plotted a course in environmental studies destined to leave a bigger footprint than his spikes on the pavement.
Didden's foray into sports started in the water. He partook in another of man's earliest activities: swimming. Proving distance was ingrained in his blood, he swam the longest events in the sport. His pivot to running, like many athletic decisions, was parent-driven.
"My mom's a runner. So I would go for runs with her. She told me to do this fun run at our school, going into my freshman year of high school. I did, and I did okay. The coach and my dad are coworkers. So he told me I should try out for the team."
Didden's father has been a constant presence in his son's running career. He regularly texts and provides advice for his son.
"From when I started competing, my dad has been the driving force. Even now in college, he's always texting me, "What did you eat?" His favorite saying to me before the race is, "You're not going to die." I am grateful that he's been there, just always pushing me. He certainly has high expectations. I always think during a race, "You're not going to die."
His parents have made the long flight to see Didden run and will be present at the Bison Outdoor Classic in April.
"I am very grateful that my parents would show up for me. They flew across the country multiple times to be there at cross country leagues, and they're coming for the Outdoor Classic. I'm just very grateful for that support network. It's nice that to have parents that are so invested in my success."
His parents might have launched his interest in the sport, and networking might have landed him a tryout, but his future teammates kept Didden interested. Distance running is not a solitary sport. Lewisburg residents can recognize Bucknell's cross country runners by the herd of men and women running through developments and US 15.
"I remember the first practice I went to, I just was, wow, these guys are so cool, and I wanted to be a part of that team. It's just built from there. The culture, the community, the guys, just everything about it, I love it, and it made me want to keep running."
How does a quintessential Californian boy end up at Bucknell - a school situated in the Susquehanna Valley? Once again, a family connection charted Didden's path. One of his grandmothers lived in Harrisburg and recommended he apply. Didden was set on attending Lewis & Clark - located in Oregon - which offered him a substantial scholarship for running, but he decided to tour Bucknell. The choice proved fortuitous for both parties.
"I visited Bucknell, and the team members showed me around. It was the tour I had with three of my future teammates that made me want to come here. So I turned down that offer to Lewis & Clark and came here as a walk-on."
Following a pattern, a warm welcome from future teammates sold Didden on the Orange & Blue. Many of Bucknell's best recruiters are student-athletes. They provided a straightforward and insightful commentary on life at Bucknell. Noah Martin, Harry Marson, and George Nikolakopoulos delivered in the clutch.
Didden emailed head coach Kevin Donner. The first email went unnoticed, but Didden improved upon his high school mark, and his second missive, containing his new time, earned him a spot on the squad. Donner has a knack for turning walk-ons into valuable distance members.
Didden's collegiate career started at the 2022 Bison Opener, where he finished 10th. He continued to make every lineup and earned a coveted spot on the Patriot League Championships roster. He placed 47th, an impressive mark for a runner who spent the summer concerned about being cut.
"I remember the first practices and the first couple of races in my freshman year. My only goal was not to get cut from the team. I remember taking every workout seriously. I need to keep up with everyone. I can't get dropped, and going from thinking like that to competing at Patriot Leagues my freshman year was awesome. My high school wasn't huge on running like it is now, which is awesome, but when I went there, I would do all my workouts by myself. Getting here and having 20 guys in a huge pack to run together trained me."
He and Coach Donner have established a close relationship. Donner famously has an open-door policy, and many athletes walk through to shoot the breeze and talk shop. As a senior, he can quote the "Donnerisms" by heart.
"He's been great. I'm very grateful that he gave me that chance when I was a freshman. I wasn't one of the best recruits. A lot of my peers in my grade were a lot better than me, but he gave me a chance and a spot on the team, which I'm forever grateful for, because this experience has given me my closest friends."
Coach Donner has the same feeling about Didden. He has overseen Didden's development from surprise recruit to key member.
"Henry has developed into one of the better runners in the Patriot League as well as our region. He works very hard and has shown improvement every season. He came from California, initiated the recruiting process with us, just kinda ended up at Bucknell, and has been a huge asset to our program ever since. He has developed into one of our all-time best distance runners."
Didden has become the headliner for the Bucknell distancemen. He has won individual events, including the 5000-meter run at the 2025 IC4A Outdoor Championships, earned All-East, scored points at multiple Patriot League Championships, won Second Team All-Patriot League in cross country, and written his name in the Bucknell record book. He sits second in the indoor 5000-meter run and seventh in the outdoor 10,000-meter run. The goal in his final collegiate season is to win a Patriot League title.
When not running for a medal, Didden strives for planetary improvement. An Environmental Studies and Economics major, he straddles the blurry line of increasing profits while protecting the ecosystem. Popular opinion holds that someone must choose one or the other, but Didden, through his internship with The Climate Project, demonstrates the flaw in such binary thinking.
His project involved studying and advocating for the use of solar panels. The Susquehanna Valley, blessed with the pleasing aesthetic of poets, has much land that isn't fertile for crops. Farmers will still attempt to grow produce not out of an expectation of yield, but because of a sense of tradition and a loss of what else to do. Didden and his project demonstrated to farmers that farming Apollo's power through solar panels could yield $200 of profit per acre - a wonderful sum for barren land.
"It was super interesting to get involved in the local community because I'm not from a really agricultural area, so to do all this and then combine it with the solar stuff opened my eyes."
Every college town has testy relationships between students and locals. Didden, venturing to farms and interviewing their owners, put a name to the ambiguous face of Bucknellians for locals. He did not come with fire and brimstone, yelling damnation and superiority, but offered a solution with a high return on investment. His economics background added credibility to his claim.
However, his other work with the Climate Reality Project reinforces why Ted Turner created the Captain Planet and the Planeteers TV show. Didden teamed up with fellow Bucknell cross country runner Madeline Barber to study the impact of AI data centers on the local environment. Data centers have become topical, and a reminder that citizens cannot neglect local issues for national headlines. The buildings use a tremendous amount of electricity and water, causing energy rates to skyrocket. Unlike solar panels, data centers aren't working with the land, but exploiting natural resources.
AI usage has become a hot-button topic. Didden's work in the field will age like wine. How to balance profit with conservation is a classic argument, one well-known to the Susquehanna Valley. Williamsport's Millionaire Row houses the mansions of men grown rich on Pennsylvania's 1800s logging industry. Boom towns rose as fast as saws cut down the lumber. But the forests were depleted, and without careful conservation practices, the success ate itself. The current generation, more tuned to nature's delicate balance, has begun to fight back against data centers. The Climate Reality Project provides empirical data for activists and groups to use at local board meetings. Maybe Didden and Barber do not have the Planeteers' famous rings of fire and wind, but they have the superpower of facts.
"They are not great for the environment.I work with GIS technologies. So, I created an interactive map outlining all the data centers in the state, and then census data like school locations, electrical grids, and water sources, because data centers use a ton of water. Madeline developed a survey to identify AI data centers, and then we interviewed community members at the Lewisburg Farmers Market and asked their opinions on it. The group actually stopped one from being built in Hazelton. Our job was basically to give them more ammo to stop construction."
Didden spent his summer at Mammoth Lake, nestled in the footsteps of the majestic Sierra Nevadas. The mountains, while not ideal for distance running, are in his blood. He grew up among the Santa Monica Mountains. His job perfectly fit his interests.
"I was a guide, leading kids on expeditions in the Sierra Nevadas for day trips and overnight trips in the backcountry. I taught leaving no trace principles, environmental stewardship, all of that. There was a big focus on environmental education with backpacking, camping, rock climbing, and mountain biking."
Didden recently signed a contract to guide two-to-three-week trips from a base camp in the Grand Teton Mountains. He will spend the summer emulating Kit Carson before heading to St. Andrew's School in Delaware this fall as a teaching fellow and assistant cross country coach. His younger brother starts school at Lafayette, and the job's location provides Didden the opportunity to see his sibling. Nearly every Bucknell student-athlete leaves Lewisburg appreciative of the opportunities he or she received. Didden is not an exception. His testimony should be printed in recruiting guides.
"I've told a lot of people that coming to Bucknell is the biggest and best decision that I've ever made in my short life so far. Because what other huge decisions would I have had to make other than where to go to college? But it was the best decision I've made. I'm so grateful for everything. I've literally had the best college experience that I could ever ask for. It brought me close to so many friends. The relationships that I have with people here. Everyone's so nice. I'm most grateful for the team. I don't know if I will ever have connections with people at any other place. I'm just grateful to Donner for recruiting all of us, and grateful to them for giving me such an enjoyable experience. I'm grateful that I will be sad leaving it. I wouldn't want to be excited to get out of here."
Anywhere Didden's next path goes, he has a bedrock foundation of running discipline and a Bucknell kinship to guide him. He represents the ideal Orange & Blue student-athlete - a star on the field and in the classroom, making a difference with his or her talents. Life isn't a sprint - it is a marathon, and Didden is ready to go the distance.
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