Mayor chases Pizza Inn mascot pulls up lame
By News-Argus Staff
Published in News on April 19, 2005 1:49 PM
Goldsboro Mayor Al King made a make-it-or-break-it effort to win the Slowpoke Race at Saturday's De-Rail-A-Bration.
The event pitted local officials against one another in a one-block foot race.
King, who admitted that he did not stretch or warm up, was the first elected official to cross the finish line. But he tore the Achilles tendon in his left foot in the process.
The mayor missed Monday night's council meeting because of the injury and was to find out today whether surgery is needed.
King confessed that his competitive urges got the better of him. He hadn't planned to go all out, he said, but when the Pizza Inn mascot standing next to him took off, the mayor went after him.
"I was just going to walk, slow and easy," King said.
The mayor said he would not let the injury keep him from his duties. "I'll be back at work soon," he said. "I couldn't stand to be cooped up at home for too long."