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t's a warm March day, and the Copper Hills High School track team is holding practice on its athletic field, surrounded by the Wasatch Mountains above Salt Lake Valley. Seniors Mack Bawden and Cameron Judd, both 18, line up with about 30 teammates for a mile run, and crank Eminem on a pair of iPod speakers. The gun cracks and the pack takes off. "Music's not legal," coach Garth Rushforth yells after the pair, laughing. He lets it slide because wheelchairs aren't legal, either.
Cameron was born with cerebral palsy (or CP), a neurological disorder that affects muscle control in nearly 800,000 Americans. His case is severe; he can't walk, talk, or use his hands for complex tasks. His mind, though, is unaffected, and he has a 3.6 grade point average. Most people with CP can only imagine what it's like to run a race, surrounded by a pack of burning legs and heaving lungs, but thanks to Mack, Cameron experiences something close to the real thing. For over a year, Mack has pushed Cameron in his wheelchair during their track and cross-country meets. "This way the training and races are more fun for both of us," says Mack.
The best friends met when they were 4, when Mack's family moved to the Judds' neighborhood in West Jordan, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City. "Mack was nice to me, and really funny," types Cameron, communicating with a computer controlled by his eye movement.
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