Few parents like saying that their 17 year old son is home playing xbox but I meet one that was real happy that his was. When I got an email from a concerned parent (and runner herself) a week ago about a kid getting hit by a car at the Howlin' at the Moon, I thought whoa I have a 17 year old son! It could be me at the hospital not knowing what to do or why it happen.Well tonight, I meet the young man's dad and he had good news about his son. The boy was banged up but he was home playing xbox and should make a full recovery. What a relief to hear this news, when I first heard what happen and that he was in critical condition, I feared the worst.
It sounds like being young and being great shape saved the day. His little sister said her brother doesn't even touch fried foods. Because no one was at the intersection and other runners removed the glow sticks, the teen ended up crossing the street and got hit. The car was going fast and he almost got out of the way. One leg got over the front of the car but then the car hit him in the shin of the other leg and he landed on the windshield and then bounced over the car.
Then he bounced behind the car for a hundred yards or more. The driver never even hit the brakes before impact. Dad says his son was bummed out because he would of medaled in his age division right behind state champ Chris Schwartz, if he had not gone the wrong way. I told dad that the official results said "DNF" and his son definitely has one of the best "Did Not Finish" stories of all time.
Class: M 10k 15-19 - 10k Male 15-19 10k
1 392 MIRELES, Cesar 19 34:10.7 0
2 442 SCHWARTZ, Christopher 19 38:35.4 +4:24.7
3 433 SCLAFANI, Dustin 15 44:02.0 +9:51.3
4 417 LOCKWOOD, Bryson 16 47:28.4 +13:17.7
5 441 BEARD, Thomas 17 48:35.7 +14:25.0
6 443 RAMIREZ, Joel 15 1:18:33.9 +44:23.2
435 CONDIE, Tyler 17 DNF
It was nice to meet his dad and his little sister (photo) at the McFarland race tonight. We had emailed one another about his daughter (before the accident) but had not actually met before. It was doubly nice to see both of them out there running too.
In a few weeks, the family will be returning to Qatar (where dad works), which is good news because it means his son must be doing well. His daughter was excited about going back and was looking forward to a meet in Egypt. I asked how far it was and she said "Oh it is only a four hour plane ride!". I said "only four hours?" while shaking my head. But I guess it beats the 24 hour trip to Qatar.
So I am very glad I came to the race this evening, I only hope that if I am ever faced with such an incident, that I can handle it as well as the Condies have.
