California teen runner crawls across finish line to secure title

In a tale that will make you at once feel inspired, lazy, chubby and way too old, a California teenager crawled across a finish line last week , battling “extreme fatigue” and cold in order to win a title for her teammates and her ailing coach.

The picture above depicts Reynolds recovering in an ambulance with her teammates, and CBS News describes how the teen fell to the ground while running after hitting a “wall,” before recovering and pushing through to secure the title for her cross country team:

Reynolds knew she had to complete the race to guarantee her school the championship title — an honor she was keen to win for her teammates, and her coach, Jim Tracy, who was diagnosed with the incurable Lou Gehrig’s disease in June…. At the 2.5 mile mark in a 3.1 mile race, Reynolds was running a strong third place. But that’s when her body started shutting down. With just two yards left, she hit the proverbial “wall”, collapsing in the grass.

“I just wanted it so badly for our coach,” Reynolds tells Stevens. “And I was willing to do anything to get there.”

It was then she began to crawl, passing out when she crossed the finish line. Her coach, Jim Tracy, commented on the feat:

“It took her 22 seconds to crawl 2 yards and over the line,” Tracy said. “It was one of the scariest but most inspirational things I’ve ever seen.”

Reynolds says she regained consciousness 20 minutes later, in an ambulance.

[CBS, MaxPreps]