Addi Zerrenner thought she was hallucinating.
Zerrenner was making her way into the second of three loops in the 6,000 kilometer race during the 2016 Pac-12 Cross Country Championship in Tucson, Ariz. and told herself to keep pushing harder. That’s when she thought she saw an unmistakable figure sneak into her view, her mom Melinda.
At first she couldn’t believe it, but then Zerrenner realized it was her mom.
“This was one of the first times my mom has seen me run in college cross country,” Zerrenner said. “I was like 'I gotta go'.”
Less than two months earlier, the second time around the loop had been her downfall in a previous race, but not this time.