'E:60' - Catching Kayla

Tom Rinaldi tells the remarkable story of Kayla Montgomery -- who, despite being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, has become one of the best young distance runners in the country.

The best stories in sports, this
is an E:60 feature presentation.

[Narrator] March 14, 2014, the
New Balance Indoor Track Nationals.

Kayla Montgomery, there in gold, is running the girls'
5000 meters with her coach, Patrick Cromwell, looking on.

[Cromwell yelling] Kayla, go around!
You can do it, girl!

[Narrator] Kayla is one of the best long distance runners in
the country, but that's not why we're telling her story.

For that, we need to
begin where the race ends.

[Kayla] Help me!

[Cromwell] Good job!

[Narrator] Growing up the older of Keith
and Alysia Montgomery's two daughters,

Kayla hardly seemed
destined to be an athlete.

[Keith] As a little girl she was artsy
and just loved to play by herself a lot.

Dress up was her big thing.

[Alysia] She loved to color. She loved to
just play with her dolls or her teddy bears.

Since Kayla was really really shy
we pushed her to do a lot of sports.

Ultimately, she loved soccer.

[Kayla] I was very aggressive and would kind of get
warnings from the refs occasionally [chuckles].

But, it was fun.

[Narrator] At 14, Kayla was playing on a
select travel team in Winston-Salem, NC

and was about to begin her freshman year at Mount Tabor
High School when she first noticed something was wrong.

[Kayla] I'd fallen in a soccer game and that evening
I started to notice a tingling sensation in my toes.

I said, "Mom, I can't feel my feet. There's this
weird shock going on. I don't know what's up."

[Narrator] Doctor visits and MRIs soon followed.
In October 2010, the doctor called with the diagnosis.

[Alysia] When he said that Kayla had MS, I honestly
lost my breath. It made me literally sick to my stomach.

[Narrator] Multiple Sclerosis or MS is a disease where
the body's immune system attacks its own nerve cells.

Essentially, the brain's communication with the
spinal cord and other parts of the body short circuits.

There is no cure.

[Alysia] I was a home care aid and I had multiple
patients that had MS, so my knowledge of MS

was not a pretty picture. It was wheelchairs and
hospital beds and paralysis and tube feedings.

It was not what I had pictured for my child.

[Kayla] I just cried a lot. And um...I didn't let anybody
in my room. I just wanted to be alone and I was mad.

I was really mad. I couldn't see why
something like this would happen to me.

I couldn't think of anything I'd done wrong, like
why should I be punished? Why was this happening?

[Narrator] For 8 agonizing months,
Kayla lacked all feeling in her legs.

With the help of medication, slowly the feeling began
to return. She had to give up soccer, a contact sport,

and instead turn to running and to a coach who
believed she could still compete, even with MS.

[Cromwell] Fastest yet!

She said, "I want to run. I want to run
fast. And I don't want you to hold back."

[Kayla] I told him I wasn't guaranteed the next couple
years of running and I wanted to make the most out

of every day I could and I wanted
somebody to hold me accountable.

[Interviewer] What kind of runner were you?

[Kayla laughs] I was kind of slow.

[Cromwell] Average at best, I mean, varsity hopeful
by her senior year. That's the way I would label her.

[Narrator] But, Kayla's experience
while running defies any label.

[Interviewer] What do you feel?

[Kayla] Nothing. It usually starts in my toes and works its
way up to my waist and stays like that throughout the race.

[Narrator] For Kayla, as with many MS patients, heat is
a trigger that causes her symptoms to return temporarily.

As her body temperature rises during a run,
the feeling in her legs begins to deaden.

[Kayla] It's just a very strange feeling, or lack thereof,
to know that your legs are moving, but not tell how fast

or tell where or I guess anything about
them. You don't know what's going on.

You just know it's happening.

[Narrator] And no feeling often means no pain.

[Kayla] Some people think it's an unfair advantage
to not be able to feel my legs while I'm running,

but I guess, although I can't feel the pain in my legs,
I can feel all the other discomforts that accompany running.

And although I can't feel my legs,
I can't determine how fast I'm going.

So, that's a major setback in running.
You have to be able to pace yourself.

[Narrator] With time, Kayla learned to pace herself
and gradually that slow runner grew faster.

First, making varsity, then becoming its fastest
member. Then training full time with the boys' team.

Then becoming one of the fastest
girls in all of North Carolina.

The whole time she had
one voice pushing her.

[Cromwell yelling] You gotta get on the train!
Go to the arms, Kayla! Go to the arms!

[Alysia] He pushes her just
the right amount and she responds.

[Cromwell] Go up to the front!
Put your shoulder on hers!

[Kayla] He's like a dad,
a goofy, dorky dad.

[Cromwell] Good job, kiddo.
Photobomb!

[Kayla] And he pushes me and
I trust him with my life.

[Narrator] And no where is that trust more
evident than when Kayla crosses the finish line.

Because she has lost the sensation in her legs,
she's unable to come to a coordinated stop.

[Cromwell] I gotcha. Shhh. That was
beautiful, girl. Good job. That was beautiful.

[Kayla] Please help me.

[Cromwell] She needs help because she's
somewhat helpless there for a few minutes.

[Kayla] Please water. Water please.

I want to get cool as fast as
possible so I can feel my legs.

I try not to make a big scene,
but I think I do anyway. [laughs]

I try to get it over with as soon as possible.
As time goes on I'll get back up.

[Narrator] As her body temperature returns to
normal, her MS symptoms gradually subside.

The episode causes no permanent damage. For Kayla,
this is the cost of competing and she's willing to pay it.

[Cromwell] I gotcha.
[Kayla] Hold me.

[Cromwell] I gotcha.
[Kayla] Hold me.

[Cromwell] I gotcha.
[Kayla] Please. I need...

[Cromwell] Shhh…It’s ok.
[Kayla] I need, I need water...so badly.

Somebody...somebody...help me! [crying]

[Cromwell] I got you right here. They got water for you.
She just needs some water. Where's the ice?

[Kayla] I need ice. I need water.
[Cromwell] Give her a Gatorade. Whatever it is.

[Kayla] I need anything. I need to get cold.

[Keith] I have a hard time watching it. Every time she
crashes like that it's a reminder that she has MS.

[Kayla] Are you pouring it?
[Man] Yep, we're pouring it.

[Kayla] Are you sure?
[Man] Yes, we got it.

[Kayla] Do you know what my time was?
[Man] I don't know what it was.

[Interviewer] Why do it?
[Kayla] I guess I do it because it makes me happy.

It makes me feel normal and whole. It's difficult to live with
a disease where your own body's fighting against yourself.

So when I'm running I feel like I'm battling
that. I feel like I'm safe from myself.

As long as I'm running everything's fine.

[Narrator] The final challenge came in May at the
North Carolina state championships for outdoor track.

The final race of Kayla's high school career. The
last time she'd run with Coach at the finish line.

[Cromwell] Alright, champ. You've
given me all you've got for four years.

[Interviewer] What happened?
[Kayla] I fell.

In the first lap a
little over 100 meters in.

[Cromwell] Hey ya'll! Good job, Kayla!

[Kayla] I guess I got squished.

Then I fell backwards and
I did like a little flip.

[Cromwell] Aww...come on! She fell.
Get back in it!

[Kayla] I kind of chuckled to myself. This would
happen. How ironic. It was also a little hard.

You don't expect it and then you're on the ground. You
have to get back up, but everyone else is farther ahead.

[Cromwell] So, hey, you gotta get up.
[Kayla] I was able to catch back up with the group.

[Cromwell] Gradually worked her way up. Sat with
the leaders. Brushed it off, nothing ever happened.

[Kayla] I sat on a couple girls for about
3 laps and I wanted to pick up the pace.

[Cromwell yelling] Drop the hammer!
You gotta go now, Kayla!

[Race announcer] That is Montgomery
going to the lead.

[Interviewer] As you come around the
final turn, what's going through you?

[Kayla] Umm..well Bianca Bishop was in 2nd place and
she's got a really great kick and I knew it.

[Cromwell at race] Come on! Hold her off!
[Kayla] I knew she was gonna catch me if I didn't go then.

So, I just gave it my all and I sprinted as
fast as I've ever sprinted in my whole life.

[Cromwell] Come on! Come on!

[Race announcer] That is Kayla Montgomery of Mount Tabor!
She will be your girls' 3200 meter run champion.

[Cromwell] YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!
I got you! You did it!

[Kayla] I crossed the line
and I was so happy.

Help me! Help me! Please.
Please. Help me.

I couldn't have asked for a better finish
or a better end to my senior year.

[Narrator] In the final race of her high school
career, Kayla Montgomery finished the way she had

so many times before, into her
coach's arms and in first place.

[Announcer] For Mount Tabor,
Kayla Montgomery!

[Cromwell] To beat it, to out run it, to know you got
every movement out of those legs while you still can,

that's why she's running.

[Cromwell] Friends now.
[Kayla] Ok.

I just hope to run as long as I can and to
make the most out of it as long as I can.

When or if I'm not able to run at some point down
the road, at least I can look back and know that

when I could, I gave it my all.