When you compete in a race, you have two goals on top of your mind: finish the race, and more importantly, finish it first.
Athletes frequently exert every effort to succeed in matches, meets, games, and competitions. But do you typically think of selflessness when you think of college sports?
Cross country is a difficult sport to compete in given the requirements that runners have to reach in order to place. Even in lower-stakes collegiate leagues, athletes have to be in peak physical shape and have incredible levels of endurance.
For Madeline Adams, a Boston College runner, who participated in the ACC Women’s Cross Country Championship, came to the race prepared and determined to win.
Her shoes were tied, her hair was pulled back, and she was ready to give it her all. Unfortunately, as much as she was positive that things would go as planned, Madeline’s own body began betraying her.
Her legs felt like they were moving at the speed of light as she ran like it was a race for her life. The only thing she could hear was the sound of her feet landing on the ground. Her muscles ached and her chest felt like it was on fire. She was struggling to propel herself forward.
But as she was in mid-air, her legs seized with a shudder and she came tumbling to the ground with a sickening thud. Two hundred yards from the finish line, as she fell to the ground, Madeline struggled to get back up.
“I was running the race of my life. I was doing incredibly well. I was coming up that hill (to the finish line), I started to feel really fatigued,” Madeline said.
“All of a sudden, I get this wave that comes over me and my legs just truly gave out from underneath me. I had no control. I really don’t remember falling, I remember being on the ground and being like, ‘why am I on the ground? Get up.’”
She claimed that before the race she felt great and “ready to rumble,” and that she had no idea of what was about to happen. She said, “I felt like this was my time to shine.” And indeed, it was, at least briefly. Her time up until the final moments had been stellar.
When she fell, that’s when the real sportsmanship became apparent.
Evie Tate, a runner from Clemson, simply could not bear to see another runner on her knees. She approached Madeline’s side and made an attempt to pick her up. Madeline couldn’t carry the weight of her own dead weight, though. However, Madeline’s dead weight was too heavy for her to carry alone.
They were both struggling to move forward, and that’s when another runner, named Rachel Pease from Louisville, pulled Madeline’s other arm over her shoulder and the pair attempted to bring Madeline to the finish line together.
“It’s really emotional…to watch yourself relive that struggling moment…but I think now I’m really happy with all the attention it has gotten, not for myself but mostly for the other girls…You’re both angels…I’m so grateful for what you did. You’re both amazing people.” Madeline spoke about the selfless display of Tate and Pease.
It is admirable to see how these two women were able to put their own interests aside to help a fellow runner who was struggling. People like Evie and Rachel exhibited an amazing show of sportsmanship, which proves that in a race, winning is not everything.
Watch the video below:
Sources: AWM, Usatoday, Newsner
