High School Runner's Sweet Move Is Praised

A classy move by a high school runner is getting some national attention. As the Indianapolis Star reports, it happened Saturday during a state cross-country meet in Terre Haute. As Ben Boardley approached the finish line, he noticed a fellow runner from another school, Faizan Khan, had fallen and was struggling to rise. Boardley paused to help him up, and both continued to the finish. See this tweeted video.

"I just kind of saw it and did it,” Boardley tells the newspaper. "I guess that’s how my parents raised me. They taught me to treat others how I’d want to be treated, and to be helpful when I can." Khan expressed his appreciation afterward, saying he now knows what Boardley's "true character is like." Both finished near the rear of the pack, but Boardley says the point is that both actually finished. (Race officials looked at the incident and concluded neither would be disqualified over the gesture.) "I knew if that was me, I wanted to make sure I’d finish at state." (More sportsmanship stories.)