Disney's Mickey Mouse Visits Bishop Blanchet HS

Disney's Mickey Mouse (the real one) made a guest appearance at Bishop Blanchet HS this morning, according to a tipster with a camera phone. Trying to figure out what the occasion is. Details to come. 

UPDATE: Heartwarming story alert! Grab your tissues. It turns out that Mickey Mouse and runDisney officials were honoring 16-year-old Sarah White, a Blanchet student, for her sportsmanship. Sarah gave her Mickey Medal from the 2010 Disneyland Half Marathon to a 76-year-old fellow runner who was injured in a fall "just a half mile from the finish line," and couldn't finish. Full story after the jump.

Shirley Rackner, right

For nine months 76-year-old Shirley Rackner of Portland, OR, trained for the Disneyland Half Marathon.  At the 12.5 mile mark of the 13.1 mile event two runners approached Rackner from behind and split to run around her on both sides. During the pass one of the runners bumped Rackner knocking her to the pavement. Falling to the ground Rackner broke her wrist and gashed her head. Her goal of completing the course and getting the coveted Mickey Medal ended just .6 miles from the finish line.

With the assistance of her daughter, who was also competing, and quick responding Disney emergency crews, Rackner was transported by ambulance from the course to Irvine UCI Medical Center. There doctors placed her arm in a cast and bandaged her head. 

Later that afternoon Shirley was released from the hospital and went to the airport to catch her flight home to Portland, OR. There she and her daughter met sixteen-year-old Sarah White and her family. The White family was preparing to return to Seattle. Realizing both parties participated in the half marathon Shirley explained what happened and why her face was black and blue and her arm lay in a sling. 

Sarah White

Moved by what happened and sensing the 76-year-old woman’s disappointment, 16-year-old Sarah White decided at that moment that Shirley Rackner deserved the Disneyland Half Marathon Mickey Medal. In a restaurant at John Wayne Airport, Sarah conducted a ceremony of her own and presented Shirley with a medal. 

Since the half marathon Sarah returned to Seattle where she is a junior at Bishop Blanchet High School and competes on the tennis team and remains an avid runner. Shirley Rackner underwent surgery to attach a metal plate to her wrist and continues to recover.