A Kentucky student refused to run in a cross-country race after being assigned “666” as her race number, according to video from WLEX.
Whitley County High School junior Codie Thacker said she couldn’t bring herself to run in the regional race while wearing “666” because of her faith. The number, according the Bible, is the mark of the beast, WLEX says.
“I didn’t want to risk my relationship with God and try to take that number,” Thacker says.
Cross country coach Gina Croley knows her students, so when she pulled the number assigned to Thacker, she knew there might be a problem.
“I saw it and I was like, ‘Whoa,'” she said. “I don’t think she will wear that number.”
She and her coach tried to get her a different number and were told they could not, Thacker says, adding that she had trained for the race since June.