Did you see this? Runner "attacked" at state meet

[runfaster]

Authorities stumped over report that black runner had substance thrown inhis eyes during

By DAVID SHARPAssociated Press Writer
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Officers investigating a report that a white manthrew an irritating substance in the eyes of a black runner at a highschool track meet last fall say they still have no leads despite reviewing3,500 videos and photos.

Mohamed Noor, a black Somali immigrant attending Lewiston High School,fell from second place to finish 124th in the New England Cross CountryChampionships at Cumberland on Nov. 10 and reported afterward that amiddle-aged white man tossed something into his eyes.

Noor struggled to cross the finish line of the 3.1-mile race. Witnessessaid he was throwing up and his eyes were bloodshot, and he was treated byan ambulance crew. However, it wasn’t until after the team returned toLewiston that Noor reported the episode to his coach.Noor’s eyes remained red and bloodshot for several days afterward, JasonFuller, Lewiston High School’s athletic director, said Wednesday.

Cumberland Police Lt. Milt Calder described the investigation as stillopen but no longer getting daily attention. “We don’t have anythingconcrete to charge anyone,” Calder said. “We just don’t have a suspect.”Police had asked for video and photos from anyone who attended the meet,and Calder said he and another officer spent about 40 hours reviewing3,500 photos and videos that were provided to police.

No one other than Noor has reported seeing anything.Cross-country runners cover miles of terrain over fields and throughwoods, often alone. Races can be chaotic, especially at regional meetswith hundreds of runners and hundreds of spectators jockeying for goodviewing positions along the course.

Noor told Fuller that a man who singled him out before the race attemptedto throw something at him at the start line, then later succeeded inthrowing something similar to dirt or sand in his eyes.

“It’s unfortunate that the whole thing is going to end up playing out likethis,” Fuller said. “I could sense from the beginning that it was doing tobe difficult to find (the assailant).”There was no comment from Noor on Wednesday; Lewiston High School wasclosed following a snowstorm.

[CoachSpongeBob]

I had read a better article on this a while back. The biggest difference from what I read though was they didn't think it was a color issue, but a religious one. Apparently there was some religious ties to this whole thing (I remember reading something about someone giving out bibles before the race or something, and that is what fueled it).

Also, this runner was undefeated all season coming into this meet, and ended up finished well back after this incident.

The other article I read also brought up that they are now looking into having high school competitions more supervised. But a number of issues were brought up particularly with xc and how you just can't be watching everybody all the time. The way the article sounded (and from the message board that brought this up) it sounded like some bad things could come as far as rules down the line to protect people from something like this. Seemed like people feared that they would eventually make rules where you basically ran a track race for xc (a loop a million times) cause that was the only way you could supervise them at all times.

I may be getting a wrong impression, but that is some of the things I read out there (and there is a ton to read if you look long enough)

[runfaster]

I later came across that same article after seeing this one first. Funny how the later version - by the same Associated Press (but perhaps a different reporter) - failed to include that information in this follow-up, even if to dispel those earlier reports if they were, in fact, untrue.

Hopefully those "bad rules" don't get implemented. Would give people - xc fans and not - true reason not to follow the sport if you take away from the courses...