Harvard Runner Loses Shoe, Gains Gruesome Injury on Way to Winning Championship 3K

Runner's World ^ | February 28, 2019 | Andrew Dawson

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

The track may feel smooth under your feet when you’re wearing spikes or trainers, but with bare feet, you truly feel the roughness of the terrain.

That was a hard lesson learned over the weekend at the Ivy League Indoor Heptagonal Championships in Cambridge, Massachusetts, when Harvard junior Kieran Tuntivate lost his shoe between the 400 and 500 meter mark of the race.

His shoe began slipping off after a competitor stepped on its back heel, creating an unnatural and uncomfortable motion about 300 meters into the race. Soon, Tuntivate had enough, and forced the shoe off his foot, leaving his left foot exposed to the recently redone track surface at his home stadium.

“I just let the shoe come off so I could run naturally again,” Tuntivate told Runner’s World. “I just just tried to stay calm and stay in the race and last a long as I could.”

Tuntivate powered through the following laps without issue until about the 2K mark. That’s when the pain really started kicking in.

“Up until 2K, my foot felt okay,” Tuntivate said. “After that, it got worse. I could feel my skin peeling away, and the last lap was pretty painful. I was trying to accelerate around the turn, and my foot was slipping on the track when I tried to push off. That was the worst part.”

Despite the discomfort, Tuntivate finished the turn and sprinted down the home stretch to finish the race in 8:12.72 for the win in a tight race—the top three were all within about a second of each other. A victory for the junior earned his team the 10 points he wanted to get them for the race, but his mind immediately went to the race he was slated to run the following day: the 5K.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

DANG!

[lee martell]

I’ll take the runner’s word about a gruesome injury.
I really don’t need to look at the photograph.

[TaMoDee]

It ain’t pretty son!

[Berlin_Freeper]

Drink and Glide
https://youtu.be/PlpWWxpBbMs

[libstripper]

This is almost close to some WW II stories, like the Marine who won the Medal of Honor for what he did in the battle of Guadalcanal when he fought off a Japanese assault by holding a nearly red hot machine gun in his bare hands.

[Secret Agent Man]

Comfrey and arnica, plus red light therapy. Wouldnt get him racing next day but would help with pain and really speed up the healing process.

[IndispensableDestiny]

High School, about 1977. While walking up to start the half-mile run, I noticed a spike was missing from my left shoe. I ran the race. The uneven pressure on my foot left a silver dollar sized blister the sole behind the big toe. When my thick callused skin finally peeled back, it looked much like that picture.

[dfwgator]

This is almost close to some WW II stories, like the Marine who won the Medal of Honor for what he did in the battle of Guadalcanal when he fought off a Japanese assault by holding a nearly red hot machine gun in his bare hands.

That was no ordinary Marine, that was John Basilone, whose story was featured in "The Pacific".

[yesthatjallen]

The agony of victory.

[lee martell]

Just reading the headline made the sole of my right foot feel cold and numb. Sometimes I imagine things too well.

[bigbob]

Winning!

[Responsibility2nd]

The agony of victory.

——————————

No no, it’s the agony of defeet. Get it? De feet?

[Darteaus94025]

I was once playing tennis and I simultaneously broke my shoelace in two spots. I finished the set by taking off my shoes and socks. My foot didn’t look that bad, but I limped around for a week.

[TChad]

He is at risk of osteomyelitis in his third and fourth toes.

Not worth it.

[DaxtonBrown]

That’s bad. But I was a pole vaulter in highschool and my hands would get chewed up. Try sliding down 10 feet of carbon fiber on a missed vault..

[txnativegop]

that is gnarly!

gonna be limping for a day or two, I bet.

[oldvirginian]

That was Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone of Buffalo, NY.
During the battle for Henderson Field on Guadalcanal GS Basilone and two other Marines used machine guns to beat back a far superior Japanese force. Basilones hands were severely burned from holding the hot barrel of the mg as he moved from position to position as needed.
He was awarded the CMOH for his actions during the battle.

Gunnery Sergeant Basilone was killed on the first day of the invasion of Iwo Jima after singlehandedly taking out a Japanese fortified position and guiding a Marine tank through a mine field while under fire.
For his bravery on Iwo Jima he was awarded the Navy Cross.

Gunnery Sergeant Basilone was the only enlisted Marine to be awarded both the CMOH and Navy Cross during WW2.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Basilone

[Squeako]

I distinctly recall that squeaking sound of my handrprints being polished off.

[libstripper]

Sorry for forgetting Sgt. Basilone’s name. I was at a range a while back with my VEPR II, an AK variant, and accidentally touched the hot barrel. WOW !! Just imagine what it might have been like to hold a hot MG barrel.