THAT is how you finish a race

[ChadTower]

Holy crap.

 

[saint]

No ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---. That's serious intestinal fortitude. She will do well in her life with that spirit/attitude.

[shardian]

I would have totally lied there and cried. That is one tough chick. How in the world did both of the major bones in her leg break though?

[meismr]

Wow... she's got a steel spine... but the dad in me has to wonder why both her legs broke.  Muscle damage to the point of detachment, you bet, but bones breaking?  Man I hope this uber-tough little girl doesn't have bone cancer or the like that causes bone damage like this. 

[ChadTower]

I would have totally lied there and cried. That is one tough chick. How in the world did both of the major bones in her leg break though?

Preexisting stress fracture... pounded mercilessly for the whole race... finally, tibia cracked... she kept running... it splintered, she fell... she got up, fibula broke since it is not a load bearing bone... she must have been in tremendous pain for a while before it even got close.

[danny_galaga]

initially i thought 'what a champion!' . but couldnt she have caused some permanent injuries doing that? in which case i think it wasn't very smart if it means living with a limp. cutting your own arm off when you are stuck in a canyon- now THATS intestinal fortitude...

ok, im ready to be pummelled with bricks now.

[tommy]

She was so close she just had to finish. 

She might have done some extra damage after she tried to stand up again after it was broken. Ouch!!

[saint]

initially i thought 'what a champion!' . but couldnt she have caused some permanent injuries doing that? in which case i think it wasn't very smart if it means living with a limp. cutting your own arm off when you are stuck in a canyon- now THATS intestinal fortitude...

ok, im ready to be pummelled with bricks now.

The fact that it was not necessarily wise does not eliminate the intestinal fortitude.

[ChadTower]

The fact that it was not necessarily wise does not eliminate the intestinal fortitude.

Very true.  Remember, we're all invincible at 18 years old. 

[shmokes]

Yeah . . . I feel like such a cynical meanie, but my immediate reaction was, "Wha . . . you fool, what are you doing?"  That girl had warnings.  The initial fracture was causing her a lot of pain and she needed to stop running on it.  Then her leg snapped, and she knew it snapped, and she got back up on the leg and tried to continue running on it.  Then her leg snapped again, so she just started crawling.  For reference, she was not being chased by a bear at the time.  There's something to be said for perspective. 

[danny_galaga]

The fact that it was not necessarily wise does not eliminate the intestinal fortitude.

Very true.  Remember, we're all invincible at 18 years old. 

im still invincible at more than TWICE that age 

[ChadTower]

There's something to be said for perspective. 

There is the possibility she was in shock after the first major fracture.  I've seen way too many guys on football fields get up and walk on obviously unstable injured legs without thinking about it first.  By the time her leg is complete toast her rational thought could have been half shut down.

[billf]

Yeah . . . I feel like such a cynical meanie, but my immediate reaction was, "Wha . . . you fool, what are you doing?"  That girl had warnings.  The initial fracture was causing her a lot of pain and she needed to stop running on it.  Then her leg snapped, and she knew it snapped, and she got back up on the leg and tried to continue running on it.  Then her leg snapped again, so she just started crawling.  For reference, she was not being chased by a bear at the time.  There's something to be said for perspective. 

She had no way to know at the time, that the pain she was running with was the initial fracture.  Runners run with pain all the time - just ask my wife.  Her coach cut back her training for the two weeks leading up to the race.

The leg had been sore on and off for the previous two weeks, prompting Berkshire coach Julie Cole to limit Markwardt in practice. When she heard the crack, Markwardt thought it was a muscle pull or tear. She thought she could gut it out to the finish line.

I think this quote from the article sums it up:

Even if her leg had given out at the 400-meter mark, she said, it wouldn't have mattered. She was going to finish.

She started the race and she was going to finish it.  Good for her.  That right there is intestinal fortitude.