Christian Cross-Country Runner Refuses To Race Wearing Bib Number 666

A high school student from Kentucky
recently passed up an opportunity to
participate in the regional cross
country championships after she
was assigned 666 as her bib
number.
Junior Codie Thacker attends Whitley
County High School in Williamsburg.
She states that she has prepared
since June to participate in the
regional championships, but laid it
all down when faced with the choice
of keeping her number or honoring
God.
Her coach, Gina Croley, told
reporters that when she discovered
that the number 666 had been
assigned to Thacker, she knew that
Thacker wouldn’t wear it. Croley was
right.
“It’s the mark of the beast; that’s
what the Bible says,” Thacker told
television station WLEX-TV, referring
to the citation in Revelation 13:18.
Croley thought that the situation
could be rectified quickly simply by
assigning another number to the
student.
“I’m very sure that the number was
computer generated,” she told
WYMT-TV. “I don’t think it was any
type of, you know, ‘Let’s give
somebody this number,’ but when it
was brought to their attention, I feel
like if it were possible, it could have
been changed.”
However, when both Croley and
Thacker approached officials in
hopes of obtaining a new bib
number, they were denied. After
failed attempts to have the number
changed via three separate officials,
Thacker decided to drop out of the
race.
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“I told them to mark out my name
because it makes me sick just
thinking that my name is associated
with that number,” she said.
Thacker also stated that she didn’t
feel it would be right to sport the
number as a Christian.
“I didn’t want to risk my relationship
with God and try to take that
number,” she advised.
But there remains disagreement
between the Kentucky High School
Athletic Association and Thacker in
regard to the request. Association
officials state that they did not know
that Thacker’s desire for a new
number was associated with her
religious beliefs, or they would have
honored the request. However,
Thacker states that she and Croley
were clear about why she could not
wear 666 on her bib.
Nonetheless, Thacker says that she
believes she made the right decision
and would do it again if faced with
the same choice.
“[O]f course I was upset, because I’d
trained all season for it,” she said.
“But in another sense, I stood up for
my beliefs and I stood up for God.”
Coach Croley agreed.
“I wouldn’t have been more [pleased
with] her if she won the entire
meet,” she told reporters. “She
stood on her principles; she stood
for what she believed in.”
While some have remarked that they
found the issue to be trivial, others
have been supportive of Thacker’s
decision.
http://christiannews.net/2013/11/07/
christian-cross-country-runner-passes-up-
championships-after-being-assigned-666-
for-bib-number/

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