Often times as runners we are told to run thru the pain. Missouri Southern Junior, Dustin Dixon has taken this bit of advice to heart. During the Division II National Cross Country meet, Dustin’s fibula broke with about a mile left in the race. Dustin did not stop. Dustin finished the last three fourths of the race with a fibula that was in two pieces. Not only did he finish the race but he finished in 23rd place, losing four places in the last mile, and was named an All American. Dustin Dixon is the definition of tough. Dustin hails from St. Clair, Missouri where in high school he was a two time 3200m champion and the State Cross Country champion. He is the current Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association Conference Champion and placed third in the South Central regional meet. His team has won the conference seven of the last eight years and are a dominant force in their part of the country. Most unusual is that six of their seven runners are from Missouri with the other being from Oklahoma. The question is how does one get to the point that their fibula just breaks running? Dustin first noticed a pain in the lower part of his right leg in early September. The trainers sent him to the hospital for a bone scan. The bone scan came back clean and Dustin was allowed to keep running. The pain seemed to have magically disappeared for a few weeks but it came back stronger than ever. The pain steadily grew worse. The pain was at its worse after races but rarely was there pain during the race. Despite this pain, Dustin was able to clinch the MIAA individual conference and to place third in the South Central region.He felt great. Most people would have quit after the pain he endured at the conference meet, and the ones that had survived that would have surely quit after the regional meet. Dustin was convinced he was going to run Nationals. “I had bigger goals than those meets” he said. So on November 17th, Dustin along with his teammates took to the line at Division II National Cross Country championship at their home course. The race was progressing pretty smoothly for Dustin. “At Nationals I felt great. I was running much faster than I did a regional’s, which was held on the same course, through each mile mark and I felt amazing doing it. I was at the three mile mark in 14:34 and felt like I was cruising” Dustin explained. At the fourth mile, the pain in leg began to throb, which was unusual for the pain did not normally begin till after the race. “I was in 19th place at the time and told myself to stay there. Top 20 as a junior wouldn’t be too bad” he said. The pain only increased with each step and just past the fifth mile mark an audible pop happened in his leg. “I knew as soon as it happened that my leg was broken and somehow maintained my balance” Dustin said “I just kept putting one foot in front of the other. I ended up finishing in 23rd.” Dustin only lost four spots, which he is not terribly disappointed with since he was running with a broken fibula. “Even though at times I didn’t know how I would do it I knew I would finish” he stated. Dustin went to the hospital after the race, it turns out that he had a stress fracture the entire season. His fibula had broken in two during the race. For those of us who do not what bone the fibula is, the fibula is the outer bone of the two bones located in the lower leg. Later, Dustin showed up to the awards banquet on crutches to receive his well deserved All American recognition. This past week, Dustin had to undergo surgery to place a metal plate in the upper part of his fibula because he continued to run on a broken leg so the upper part of the fibula smashed against the lower segment causing the upper part to split down the middle. It is expected to heal quickly and he should be running by the middle of January. He will miss the indoor track season, but fully expects to back for outdoor. He plans to be at outdoor Nationals. So how tough is Dustin Dixon? Well I will let you be the judge of that. “I have been told my many people that they would have just quit as soon as it broke, but those people don’t know how hard I have worked. They don’t understand all of the freezing mornings with ice in my hair. They don’t understand the workouts that push my body to the limit and then again and again. They don’t understand what we do at Missouri Southern. We make boys into men. We win with what we have. We win with heart” he said in closing.