If ever there was a man who needed a peek at heaven, California’s Jim Tracy would fit the bill. For the past five years, he has felt his body slowly and cruelly slip away as Lou Gehrig’s disease has strengthened its hold but two weeks ago the good Lord gave him a glimpse of what may await in eternity.

Tracy, a tremendously-successful cross country coach at a small private high school in San Francisco, first lost the muscle motion in his thumb and then, three years ago, Jim – an accomplished runner – could no longer keep stride with the adoring kids he coaches at University High. He has since been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

This year has been particularly hard. He must now wear braces on his legs and his back. He sometimes falls just watching practice. But his runners, perennial state champions, have been the wind under his wings. Whether hurriedly fetching a chair or, before each meet, huddling to dedicate the day’s effort to him, it’s lost on no one that they always end in a loud cheer.

At this year’s state meet in Fresno, it started no differently but team captain Holland Reynolds led an extra cheer, this one because she knew what a win would mean right now for “Coach,” who had already hobbled to the finish line to watch his girls come in.

When the five Red Devils took their places for the start of the Division V state championship, no one could have known that within minutes Holland would soon deliver a finish that has since become an Internet sensation.

Reynolds started the 3.1 mile race strong, as she usually does, and, with about half a mile left, she was in third place, ready to overtake the next runner, when something went wrong, horribly wrong.

“I was going to make my move,” she told a New York Times reporter, “but for some reason my legs just gave out. I was confused, and I started to slow down.”

Tracy, watching the field of 169 runners thunder home, saw another University High runner finish before Holland and, alarmed, he began to walk out on the course. “I thought, ‘This isn’t right,’” he said. “‘Holland should be here already.’”

When he first saw his star runner, she was barely running, weaving on the course and obviously impaired. “She usually runs with a slightly bent upper torso,” the coach said, “but this had twisted her over even more. It looked like she was barely able to keep herself stabilized. It was a grisly sight.”

What settled the ailing coach was the undeniable fact Holland’s eyes were still set on the finish line. “Her vision was locked on her goal. I’d never seen anything like it. It was like a mask of determination. I’ve seen that so many times when she’s in front, but this time she was getting buried. People were flying past her.”

Staggering and now only at a stumbling walk, she pressed on but about six feet from the finish line, she collapsed. The Red Devils’ assistant coach, Brian Weaver, was immediately at her side. Under the rules, he could neither touch her nor help her. “I said, ‘Are you O.K., and do you want to finish?’”

“She said ‘Yes,’ and I said, ‘O.K., all you have to do is get your foot across the line, and you don’t have to get up, it’s O.K. if you crawl.’” As a huge crowd watched in hushed awe, Holland Reynolds started to crawl. It was harsh and as cruel as ALS, and agonizingly slow. You could have heard a pin drop.

Weaver remembers whispering, “You can do this.” And, as Holland nodded her head, the assistant coach told her, “Nice and easy, don’t force it.”

Coach Tracy, who you’ll remember was standing there in his braces, later said, “It took over 20 seconds for her to crawl two yards.”

The very second that Holland’s hand touched the line Weaver swept her up and raced her to a nearby ambulance, where medical experts immediately started IVs for dehydration and hypothermia. She doesn’t remember any of that. “All I knew was that I had to cross the line.”

The first thing she does remember, after the IV fluids began to take a grip, was hearing her mother tell her dad in the back of the ambulance that University High had won the state title. In cross-country, the title is based on how well all the runners finish. If Holland had asked for help, or had quit, her team would not have won. With her crawl, she finished 37th, and Jim Tracy was awarded the best day of his life.

“When they announced we won, the whole team exploded like fireworks went off,” the coach said. “I know they felt such pressure to do so well for me, and then for them to see their teammate go down, it was emotionally draining. I’ve never been happier for a group of kids. It was an amazing day.”

University High School, under coach Tracy, has now won eight state titles, which is unprecedented in California high school sports. And a gutty little junior, who crawled two yards in 22 seconds, has assured her coach, as well as many thousands around the world who have seen the stirring video on national news channels and the Internet, that all that really matters is how you finish.