Twenty-year-old Grant Bettinger, all 6 feet 4 inches of him, had just run away from his age group in the 50-yard dash at the 47th annual Lloyd Ray Smith Area 4 Special Olympics Spring Games.
Long and lean and with strides that would make a giraffe proud, Bettinger refused to stop after crossing the finish line. He was just having too much fun. So he kept running. For at least 100 more yards, his friends and family and volunteer coaches cheering his every step before he finally slowed to a stop, like a great racehorse galloping out after a big win.
A few feet away, this year’s Games being staged at the athlete’s Ooltewah High School for the first time ever, a member of the school’s athletic department watched Bettinger’s best and said, “We’ve actually thought of trying to get him out there with the varsity team. He can really run.”
Hearing this, a reporter asked Bettinger if this was his best race ever.
“Yeah,” he said with a smile late Saturday morning.