RunDisney rewards teen for sportsmanship shown at Disneyland Half Marathon

When 76-year-old Shirley Rackner of Portland, Ore., went to Disneyland over Labor Day weekend, she had one goal:  Finishing the Disneyland Half Marathon.

After nine months of training, Rackner would make her first attempt at the 13.1 mile distance, walking the event with her daughter.

Sarah White, a 16-year-old from Seattle, Wash., was also in town for the race.  White had already done the Walt Disney World Half Marathon in Florida, and wanted to run both races in the same year to complete Disney's Coast to Coast Race Challenge.

Rackner and White had never met.  Both set out separately on race morning, enjoying the bands, Disney characters and spectators that lined the course.  White ran with her mom, as Rackner walked along with her daughter.

Then, less than one mile from the finish, Rackner's race went from a dream to a nightmare.  "I got to 12 and a half miles and a couple wanted to pass me.  They came between my daughter and me and the next thing I knew I was on the ground," Rackner explained.

Rackner's race was over.  She was taken to a nearby hospital with head lacerations and a severely broken wrist. 
 
"It was pretty devastating. I worked pretty hard getting fit for this so you can imagine the frustration and anger that I had," Rackner said.

White finished the Disneyland Half Marathon without any issues, not even knowing someone was injured out on the course.

After the race, while waiting to catch a flight back to Washington, White and her mom noticed the obviously bruised and battered Rackner who was also at the airport.  

"She had bandages and a cast and she told us that she did the race too," White said.  "Then we found out that she had an accident at mile 12."

After hearing Rackner's story, White decided there was only one thing to do.  While still at the airport, she offered Rackner her finisher's medal.  "It was just something I wanted to do.  After all the effort that she went through I thought she deserved something," said White.

Rackner couldn't believe the teen's generosity.  "The idea that a young person would be so thoughtful and dear and kind.  That she would take her medal off and give it to me.  It made me feel that it had been the worst day of my life and then all of the sudden the best day," Rackner explained.

When she returned home Rackner immediately contacted runDisney to find out if she could get a replacement medal for the teen.

"Within a few days Disney contacted me and said they wanted to give her another medal but they also wanted to do something more," said Rackner.

On November 17, Mickey Mouse, a team from runDisney and Rackner showed up at White's high school for a surprise ceremony.  

Thinking she was attending a school pep rally, White was shocked to find out the assembly was actually for her.

"I was overwhelmed," White shyly admitted.    

At the ceremony both women were presented with new finisher's medals, something White never expected.  "I got so much back from her already just from giving her my medal," White said.  "I got so much love back.  It was a good day."

White plans to return to Disneyland next year for the race, and Rackner wants to join her.  "We'll see," she said hopefully.  "The wrist has to be healed, but I'm working on it."