Legendary Olympic runner Billy Mills relays inspiring message to Box Elder students

BOX ELDER – Before the day’s festivities began, Billy Mills paid a visit to Julie MacDonald’s classroom at Box Elder School Tuesday afternoon.

Smiles and wide eyes were abound as the 1964 Olympic gold medalist greeted the class. One student proudly showed Mills the Bitmoji character he had created in the likeness of Mills, while several other hands shot up to ask questions.

But questions for Mills would have to wait, as Box Elder staff had planned a fitting tribute to a former U.S.- and world-record holding runner: a one-lap jog around the school, with Mills serving as the honorary race starter.

One young boy pointed and exclaimed “That’s Billy Mills!” just prior to the whistle, while countless others shared smiles and greetings as they jogged by the man that is still the only American athlete to win Olympic gold in the 10,000-meter race.

One student approached Mills following the “Bear Run 2022,” telling him: “I saw your video (of the 1964 gold medal race), and you looked fast!”

“I was fast!” Mills said to the boy with a laugh.

Prior to Mills’ presentation, one of four he gave in northcentral Montana this week, Box Elder Superintendent Jeremy MacDonald and Student Body President King Ragged Robe addressed the student body.

More:A chance encounter: Box Elder's MacDonald meets iconic runner Billy Mills

“There’s not too many days you can meet your heroes,” MacDonald said. “And meet someone that lives that way we want to live. This is one of those days.”

Mills, 84, a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, still speaks with great pride of his historic victory in Tokyo. Mills’ winning time of 28:24.4 set the Olympic record at the time as he moved past Ron Clarke of Australia and Mohammed Gammoudi of Tunisia in the final stretch.

“That moment was very special to me,” Mills said. “I felt like I had wings on my feet.”

Mills told the students his victory came not merely from talent, but started with a “journey of 50,000-plus miles” during his training.

It wasn’t merely work ethic and talent that created the path to achieving his dream either, Mills said.

He spoke of the death of his mother at the age of 8, and how his father comforted him by saying: “It’s the pursuit of a dream that heals broken souls.”

Mills recalled the death of his father not long after, and how his father urged him to “find the dream, and pursue the dream.”

His journey to Olympic glory was not without its dark days, Mills said. The University of Kansas alumnus still remembers the hurt he felt after being told he could not be in a photo with the other All-American runners after his junior season, as a man said: “You, the dark-skinned one, we want you out of the photo.”

“I know what it means to be broken,” Mills said. He recalls breaking down crying in his hotel room, contemplating suicide by jumping out of the window.  

A voice, almost like an echo, he said, simply kept telling him: “Don’t.” He instead went to pen and paper, writing down the goal of “Olympic 10,000-meter champion.”

Mills told the students of the historic race on Oct. 14, 1964, of how he looked to his wife Patricia in the stands for strength. He relayed how on the final lap, feeling weak due to his hypoglycemia and diabetes, he thought he saw an eagle on the jersey of a German runner he was lapping. This brought back the words of his father following the death of his mother: “Someday you could have wings of an eagle. You have broken wings now, son. Wings of an eagle.”

Mills said he remembers thinking on that final lap: “I may win, but I may not get to the finish line first.” After finding Patricia during the celebration, he said he found clarity in that that thought, telling her: “I have healed a broken soul.”

Mills spoke to the students about the importance of education, about how reading taught him the importance of critical thinking. He said he’s traveled to over 110 different countries, and that it was important for the students to try to find “unity through diversity.”

“America needs the magic of our Indigenous people,” Mills said. “You can choreograph the horizon of America’s future.”

Grady Higgins covers prep sports and more for the Tribune. He can be reached at ghiggins@greatfallstribune.com.