Kentucky Cross-Country Runner Refuses To Run With Bib No. 666

Meet organizers deny her request for a new number and she withdraws from the field.

A high school runner in Kentucky getting ready to compete at her regional cross-country championship race last weekend withdrew because of the number assigned to her.

The number was 666, a string of digits that often symbolizes the devil.

Because of her religious beliefs, Whitley County High School junior Codie Thacker refused to wear the number. When her request for a new bib was denied by meet organizers, she withdrew from the competition — and her hopes of qualifying for the state championship were erased.

“I didn’t want to risk my relationship with God and try to take that number,” Thacker told lex18com. “I told them to mark out my name because it makes me sick just thinking that my name is associated with that number.”

Thacker’s coach, Gina Croley, knew there would be a problem when she saw the number assigned to her runner.

“I saw it and I was like, ‘whoa,'” Croley said. “I don’t think she will wear that number.”

Lex18.com reports that the Kentucky High School Athletic Association was not informed Thacker’s request was because of religious beliefs. If it knew this was the case, she would have been assigned a new number.

For more: lex18.com