Athens Middle School eighth-grader Asa Savoie gives a tribute speech to his best friend and fellow eighth-grader Troy Young during Savoie's Honors English class.

As a soccer player and cross country athlete, Athens eighth-grader Asa Savoie is no stranger to running. Running while pushing his classmate and best friend, Troy Young, is a different story.

The pair got the idea to participate in the Athens portion of Chick-fil-A’s North Alabama Race Series after seeing someone else’s announcement on Young’s phone.

“That afternoon, I asked about pushing him,” Savoie said, adding it was his mom’s idea.

Young was born with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita. He has spent most of his life in a wheelchair.

“Your joints and some muscles are underdeveloped, and they want to lock up in certain positions and restrict you from walking and stuff,” Young said.

Young had originally planned on riding his electric wheelchair in the race, but he and Savoie instead cooked up a plan for Savoie to push him in a manual wheelchair to the finish line instead. The race website listed Savoie as a registrant for the 5K version of race, which is 5 kilometers or just more than 3.1 miles long.

Young and Savoie said they discussed the plans so last-minute that they didn’t even practice beforehand.

“We took a warmup block, and that was about it,” Savoie said.

It’s also probably a good thing Young opted for the ride, as it rained during the race. By the time they reached the finish line, “we were soaked,” Young said.

Savoie and Young finished the race in 27 minutes, 40 seconds, an average of less than 9 minutes per mile. According to the race website, they placed ninth for their age group and 55th overall out of 260 runners.

A hero’s tribute

Savoie and Young met at Athens Middle School. They said they were first introduced two years ago, and they grew close in seventh grade.

“We had first period together, and we used to cut up a lot,” Savoie said.

Now, they hang out “all the time” at each other’s houses. When Savoie’s teacher asked him to write a tribute speech to the person who made the greatest impact on his life, he knew just who to pick.

“I wrote about him,” he said. “I remember I read some speech that said, ‘Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% what you do with it.’ What he does with it teaches me what I should do with my life, to take full advantage of what you’re given.”

He said Young has also taught him to be grateful for what he’s given. Savoie described Young as a very sociable person who is nice to everyone.

Young attributed these characteristics in part to a mindset that focuses on what can be done, not what can’t.

“I don’t ever think of myself, really, or down on the troubles I have,” Young said. “… It’s never a problem with me thinking, ‘Oh, I can’t do that.’ I just do what I can.”