It’s one thing to be terrified of a growling pitbull, but a Chihuahua? That seems absurd.
Don’t say that to Yon Yilma, a senior cross country runner at Edmonds-Woodway High School. Last year during a practice run with his teammates, Yilma freaked out when an apparently blood-thirsty Chihuahua wanted to eat Yilma for dinner.
“It came out of nowhere and it started barking and chasing me,” said Yilma, who will try to defend his Class 4A District 1 title Saturday in Langley. “I was really scared and I started running really fast. Everybody else was like, ‘It’s just a Chihuahua!’”
Yilma knows better though. As a young boy in Ethiopia, he and his family had five dogs. He liked the pets but never fully trusted them.
“I like dogs. They’re my favorite animal,” the 5-foot-3, 108-pound Yilma said. “But for some reason when I’m running they like to chase me around.”
Yilma’s encounter with the feisty Chihuahua inspired an ongoing E-W team joke. The Warriors printed one of Yilma’s goofy, perplexing quotes on the back of their 2007 team T-shirts: “I’m not afraid of dogs. I’m just scared of them.”
To learn more about Yilma — described by teammates as short, fast, amazing, inspirational and a ladies’ man — click here.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
