Perseverance extraordinaire! Teenager crawls to complete relay race in Japan

Rei Iida is determined to complete the race.

This is an incident that happened on the 21st of last month during the annual ekiden (a relay race held on roads) for women in Fukutsu, Fukuoka Prefecture in Japan.

One of the members of a relay team, 19-year-old Rei Iida, fell down and was unable to run. But so intense was her determination not to let her team down, she crawled the remaining 200 to 300 meters on her knees in order to pass on the relay sash to her teammate.

Besides the bloody bruises on her knees, she had suffered a fracture.

While the young girl's perseverance is admirable and inspiring, the unfortunate part of the story is that the young woman didn't know that her team officials, on seeing her fall down, had informed the organisers that the team was pulling out of the race. By the time that message reached the runner, she had already crawled her way, and was very close to sash-passing point.

Here is a report in Singapore's Straits Times news website, which also contains a 3.51-minute Youtube video clip of the incident. The point where the girl falls is after 45 seconds.

KENYAN WOMAN TOO DID IT

This is the not the first time someone is crawling to the finish. In February 2015, in Austin, Texas, a 29-year-old Kenyan marathoner, Hyvon Ngetich, crawled to the finish line, after collapsing just 50 meters ahead of the finishing line and declining a wheelchair. When she collapsed, she was leading the race, but she still managed to end the race in the third place.

Here is a video from the BBC.

Truly inspiring stories of determination to overcome challenges.