On the morning of his last high school race, Holy Innocents' senior Joe Sapone woke up with a quiet, inner mission. After getting second in state the day before in the 3,200-meter run – an accomplishment for many – this created an inner burn for him.
 
Without wasting words, if Joe were a Ninja, he'd be the world's best – Bruce Lee be darned. Polite outward, there's a competitive warrior inside – and it's a warrior that's blasted race times not only that excel in Georgia, but across the U.S.A. as well.
 
"I had to do a shakeout run to get my mind right," Joe said. "It gets me ready. My thought was that if I didn't win, I wanted to run really fast. Still, with that said, I hate losing."
 
Losing – not something Joe's used to but still – "losing" is something that's led him to taking the state track championships by storm. A year ago in fact, almost to this very day, his 4 X 800-relay team failed to defend its state title in taking "only" second.
 
Joe burned for 24 hours until answering with a state title in both the 800, 1,600, and the 4 X 400-relay team that clinched the only boys' state championship in school history.
 
Maybe him "losing" once in a while is a good thing, though Joe arrived at Hugh Mills Stadium an hour-plus early as he always did. Sat with his headphones, acknowledged his coaches, went off into his own world. 
 
The coaches knew not to intrude – perhaps the best lessons coaches in every sport learn is when to leave the heck alone. Joe remained inward – an alum who wanted to warm up with him was told that he didn't want to talk when warming up. 
 
So, they didn't.
 
Then, it was off to the starting line. "I was nervous, but I knew it was my last hurray and I knew what to do. Still, the P.A. guy was announcing all the people's names that were in the race – there must've been the entire town of Albany there. That seemed to go on forever!"
 
The gun eventually did go off – and so did Joe. Out in 60, ahead of his competitor from the day before. Problem was – late in lap three – he was passed by that same kid. 
 
"I'd had that view of him the night before and I hated it," Joe said with a laugh. I knew what it looked like – hated the very sight."
 
Joe passed him with 120 to go, both were side by side for about 10 meters, then Joe did what Joe does – he outkicked him to win the state title." His time was 4:04.27 – eclipsing a state record that was set back in the 80s. 
 
"I knew that in a short kick, I had the advantage. The night before it was a longer, more tactical one. The quote that stuck in my head was "Fortune favors the brave."
 
Looking back – and this is huge because it tells who Joe is – he stopped by Mrs. Laura Harrell's fifth grade class last Thursday before leaving town to read to the kids. "He answered every question – regardless of whether they made sense or not," Mrs. Harrell said.
 
Joe was asked if he was going to run in the Olympics one day. "I'm not fast enough. Those people run the mile in 3:30 or so, like Superman."
 
He laughed it off, on the outside that is. 
 
Still, warriors know that remaining calm is a weapon, perhaps one of the biggest ones. With that said, 10-year-old kids watched as their hero left the building.
 
There was no cape wrapped around him, no phone booth to change in. Instead, Joe Sapone put his headphones on, went for a warm-up run, and planned his days ahead in Albany. 
 
And if you ever got to see him in action – it's a stark differential to the 'ugliness' of a lot of distance runners, who often have fluids coming out of their faces, that 'passing a kidney stone' expression. 
 
It's different with our beloved Flyin' Hawaiian. 
 
We're better people if we ever got to see him run. And at the high school level, we may never see anything like it again.
 
Thanks Joe…