Germantown's Ben Schnoor ran the state 3,200 final with a bare foot after losing his shoe. The result? His best ever.
JR Radcliffe
Ben Schnoor may have lost his sole, but not his purpose.
The Germantown sophomore's seventh-place finish was a quality showing in the 3,200 meters June 2 at the Division 1 state track and field meet, a personal-best time of 9:18.06 that would have been a satisfying accomplishment regardless of footwear.
But Schnoor did it with one shoe and one bare foot.
His right running shoe came off at the start, and for the next eight trips around the track at Veterans Memorial Stadium in La Crosse, he was running with a disadvantage that nonetheless couldn't separate him from the second pack of runners.
"A guy cut in right behind me; you can't blame him, it's such a big meet," Schnoor said of the start. "He just stepped on my ankle and took the shoe with it. It was half on, and the heel was off, and with the next step, it just fell off. I got rid of the sock (another 200 meters later). The sock was useless."
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Schnoor said he considered trying to get the shoe back on his foot, even if it meant losing precious time.
"I thought it might be worth it (when I came around for the second lap), but I didn't have my sock at that point, and the ref was holding the shoe," Schnoor said.
Schnoor's foot took a beating, needing a series of bandages after the race concluded.
"The pain from the foot subsided the rest of the pain in my body, so I kind of just went with the flow of that," he said. "I kind of went numb after a while."
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It's one of the more crowded races on the track at the state meet, with 24 runners competing in one heat. Drew Bosley of Homestead won the race in 8:59.49.
Schnoor said he's never experienced losing a shoe before and even though he knows he can run his best in those circumstances, he has no intention of training in bare feet.
