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DyeStat Virginia
11/11/00 at Great Meadow VA
Cross Country State Meet
Mike Heiner - Virginia hero
Gives up own chances to pick up a fallen runner
Centreville coach Matt Murray: "I guess maybe, to many, it really is the journey and not just the destination."
by Pearl Watts
One of the more talked about performances following the state cross country championships this past weekend was that of Centreville junior Mike Heiner, who finished third to last. The buzz was not about a poor showing in which he crossed the finished line ahead of only two competitors in 130th place, but in how he did it.
Heiner had become the fifth runner from the Heiner family since 1993 to automatically qualify for the state championships, following in the tradition first set by oldest sister Jessica and continued on by sisters Cammie and Laura and older brother Daniel. Heiner was not involved in the team scoring process. He was entered as an individual qualifier and appeared to be on his way to a top 30 finish when Derek Grotheer of Woodbridge went down near him about 100 yards from the finish line.
Instead of bypassing the accident and continuing to try and speed through the traffic hoping someone else would take care of the situation, Heiner helped Grotheer to his feet and half walked, half carried the Woodbridge sophomore all the way through the finish line. Mike Heiner lost about two and a half minutes and 100 spots in the race due to his decision but gained much more than that in another way, judging by the applause from the fans lining the homestretch area and the reaction of his high school running peers following the race.
Mike Heiner said:
"From what I heard from my coach; Grotheer was in 25th and I was in 32nd at about 10 seconds behind him. I was trying to pick it up towards the finish line when I saw someone in a yellow jersey go down. I was still trying to speed it up towards the finish line but I saw that this runner had collapsed and was completely laid out. I knew that in the way he fell that he could do no more.
"By the time I slowed down I was about five feet past him, but I went back to him and saw he was down and nothing was happening. I pulled him up to try and get him to walk with me. He was mumbling around and all I could do was tell him that we were going to get to the finish line.
"He went down for a second or two a couple more times after that but I got him back up each time and kept trying to get him to put his arm around my shoulder to help him get to the finish. I never knew if he understood what was going on during that time and only realized it at the end when he told me that even though we were together, I needed to cross the finish line before him because I deserved to finish in front of him. That's the first time I knew that he knew what was going on.
"I usually say a prayer before a meet asking for mental strength, either right before the race or at the starting line. The mental strength I needed this time was not for finishing the race, but for doing something else during the race. I heard Derek went unconscious for a half hour after the race and then had to go to the emergency room after that but I talked to him tonight and he says he his feeling okay."
Derek Grotheer said:
"We are going to try and hook up this weekend and talk about a few things. I am supposed to be getting the results back soon from the doctors about the situation. They say I may have 'runners heart'. It can be caused by extreme stress. It has been a hard cross country season and with the stress of the running and school work I may have tipped it at the state meet; I was so pumped up for the race.
"I was okay until about the two and half mile mark and then when I made the hard left turn around the tree and started on the long downhill, my eyes started to go a bit at that point. My legs then started to turn to lead and then when I made the turn to the infield area (600 meters to go), my legs turned to cement. Then when I got to the last uphill and had about 200 meters to go my legs just went.
"I was aware of what was going on the whole time with Mike. He kept on trying to help me walk but my heart wouldn't give any blood to my legs; he was carrying the majority of my weight the whole time. He stayed with me the whole way even though I could hardly do anything. When we got near the finish line, I said, as a decency to him because I was in the deepest distress and could do nothing else, that he at least needed to cross the finish line before me. I feel bad that I have no way to have him recognized for what he did."
I guess sometimes your running teammates don't always wear the same color jersey.
--Pearl Watts
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