Kentucky cross country runner pulls out of regional championships rather than ru

[Psalm 51:17]

Kentucky cross country runner pulls out of regional championships rather than run with bib number ’666′
11/6/13

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/highschool-prep-rally/kentucky-cross-country-runner-pulls-regional-championships-rather-111318529.html

In one of the strangest cases of purported religious beliefs intersecting with athletic performance, a Kentucky junior cross country runner voluntarily walked away from a chance to qualify for the state meet to avoid running with the bib number "666", which she said conflicted with her Christian beliefs.

As reported in depth by Lexington NBC affiliate LEX18, Whitley County High (Whitley County, Kent.) cross country runner Codie Thacker voluntarily forfeited her spot in a regional championship race after her coach drew bib number 666 for the runner. Thacker and her coach argued that she should be allowed to switch her number, but race officials refused the request.

Those officials would later deny that Thacker claimed she needed to change bib numbers for religious reasons, though the junior insists she was explicit about her motivation. To her, running with the number 666 on her chest would have signified a serious breach in her faith.

"I didn't want to risk my relationship with God and try to take that number," Thacker told LEX18. "I told them to mark out my name because it makes me sick just thinking that my name is associated with that number."

The result was a third straight season where the cross country runner has fallen just short of the state meet, even though she had aggressively trained for the regional championship race since June. Thacker had hoped to earn headlines for her performance on the trails. Now she's getting attention for something else entirely.

Perhaps the only person who wasn't stunned by Thacker's exit from the regional meet was her coach, Gina Croley, who was the first person to see the number assigned to the runner.

"I saw it and I was like, 'whoa,'" she said. "I don't think she will wear that number."

1Cor 9:24  Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
1Co 9:25  And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
1Co 9:26  I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
1Co 9:27  But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

[Kilika]

Thacker and her coach argued that she should be allowed to switch her number, but race officials refused the request.

Those officials would later deny that Thacker claimed she needed to change bib numbers for religious reasons, though the junior insists she was explicit about her motivation.

Those officials need to be questioned about their reasoning for refusing a number change. How could they not see the obvious issue with that number? How are those numbers issued anyway? Who decides that? There is no way they had over 600 runners in a high school meet, so why so high? It appears to me to be intentional.

[Psalm 51:17]

Those officials need to be questioned about their reasoning for refusing a number change. How could they not see the obvious issue with that number? How are those numbers issued anyway? Who decides that? There is no way they had over 600 runners in a high school meet, so why so high? It appears to me to be intentional.

I agree - I was on the cross-country team when I was in junior high, and even the district meets(which included schools from outside the city) didn't have this many runners. Pretty much, this sport has the least amount of competitors b/c it's running long distances, in cold weather, and on uncomfortable surfaces(grass).