I applaud the kid - we can't all be so noble. Certainly not me. I remember in my senior year in high school, I had trained all summer (for a change) and was in much better shape than a rival at another school across the county who I had never beaten before. I made the mistake of sharing with a teammate, who I thought knew better that I was really gunning for him in our next meet. He told a number of his friends who knew kids at the other school, and by the time the day of the race came around (on his course), we had a much larger crowd than normal watching.
My opponent, the top kid on the other team, was talking smack to me even as we stepped to the line. He didn't know it, but it fueled me even more as I had been feeling a little nervous. It was a very hot and humid day and I was always a very good runner in the heat relative to other runners, so my plan was to go hard from the gun and run him into the ground. I was pretty sure I was at least 45 seconds faster for a 5k race than I had been the year before and, if nothing else, I'd make him hurt.
The race played out as I hoped. He had a very difficult time hanging on and I was running my guts out to try to make it hard on him. The last half mile finished around a big loop on a field where the earlier part of the loop goes near the finish. After having him draft off of me and hearing him sound near death most of the race, his gasping started to fade and I gapped him in the early part of this finishing loop.
Right then, I noticed people with scared faces take off running and looking behind me where I had just run. I turned around and the guy was on the ground and people were trying to help him up.
I finished the loop and our coach was always waiting with Gatorades at the finish. I grabbed mine, asked the coach waht happened to my rival, and he said he thought it was dehydration or heat exhaustion, he wasn't sure. I didn't open the Gatorade, I walked it over to where he was lying down, just off the course, surrounded by people. He was conscious, but seemed dazed. I spoke his name, he looked at me, and I handed him my Gatorate and said "Take my drink - you need it worse than me."
Everybody thought it was a great gesture, I was such a helpful guy, good sport, blah, blah, blah. Nonsense. I was a douche and I was doing it to rub it in. Nothing like beating a big-mouth down, having a great (misinterpreted) moment, and getting in his head like that. Everyone thought I was this great hero and had no idea of my real motive. Best tasting Gatorade I never drank. Prologue: he never came close to beating me again in his career.
I was never a state champ or anything although I did have a nice career in HS and an even nicer one in college. This race will never fade from my memory though - it is in my top 5 for sure, and is the only dual meet that I can recall almost everything about it vividly.... I wonder why.....