This one is an example of finishing what you start, of running the good race. Distance runners are skinny, but they are anything but fragile.

Thanks, Tom Valentino of the News-Herald, which serves Cleveland and northeast Ohio, for the basics of the story and the quotes.

Berkshire senior Claire Markwardt in the Division III Ohio girls cross country championship in 20 minutes, 24.07 seconds, after she broke her leg. She finished 67th, good enough for her team, the Badgers, to finish fourth in the team standings.

Markwardt broke a tibia during the race and collapsed in the final stretch, but still managed to finish 67th overall, helping the Badgers to a remarkable fourth-place finish in the team standings.

“She said she heard it crack about three times while she was running,” Berkshire coach Julie Cole told Valentino. “When she tried to do her final kick there, it just gave out on her.”

Markwardt crawled the last 15 meters.
“I feel so honored to be on her team,” said sophomore Alex Bowers, the fastest of five Badgers who ran a personal-best time (19:29.67, 28th overall). “She just makes us proud because she goes out and runs through that pain.”

Watch her cross the line on UTube. I was in tears. It was tough to watch, but I couldn’t turn away. I felt her pain as her leg buckled. Her competitors gave her room to let her finish on her own. They know she had her own race and she wanted to finish. Hats off to the guy at the end who picked her up. He doesn’t have the flair of Bela Karolyi lifting Keri Strug at the Olympics, but he’s just as effective.