On October 20, 2003, one of T. L. Hanna’s Cross Country Team runners appeared in Sports Illustrated. Most athletes who receive this accolade have proven themselves on the playing field and have been elevated to an elite status before their pictures appear in our nation’s most prominent sports magazine. Ben Comen, however, got his picture there in quite a different way. The magazine touts Comen as “the slowest high school cross-country runner in America.” Why would the magazine, then, be interested in Ben? It is simple -- because of the obstacles he has overcome to become a valued team member; because of the cerebral palsy that has contorted his body; because he refuses to quit before the race is over; because he feels that his purpose in life may be to inspire others, that their obstacles can be overcome, too.