LONGVIEW---A Longview High School senior is receiving a prestigious national award in April. Eighteen year-old David Buckner won the "Yes I Can" award for athletics.

David was born with a disease called tuberous sclerosis. It's a disease that causes tumors to grow all over the body and cause seizures as well as many other debilitating problems. David is proof that the incurable disease can be overcome.

"It feels wonderful. You seem to go into your own world when you're running and when it's over, it's like it's all gone," David Buckner says.

There are many ways to describe David Buckner's running: fast, competitive, constant...

"David may run home after a workout, and he lives three miles away."

...And miraculous.

"Doctors and therapists didn't hold out a lot of hope for anything like this for certain," Laura Buckner says.

When David was only three months old, he was diagnosed with tuberous sclerosis. The disease can make it hard for people to do even basic things.

"It was one doctor or maybe a couple that said he may not walk or talk," Ms. Buckner explains.

But he walked, and then, he ran.

"The PE coach called me and said, 'I make all the kids run in PE. Most of them can't run a lap or two...He said, well he ran fourteen laps around the track, and we're thinking he ought to run cross country," Ms. Buckner recalls.

And six years later, David is running at least sixty miles each week on Spring Hill's varsity cross country and track teams, and more impressively, he's blowing the competition out of the water.

"I've watched him go from finishing close to last to first and second," Stacy Edwards, David's coach says.

He even got second place in a long distance race after breaking his hip in the middle of the race. That's the kind of dedicated runner David is.

"The only time I've ever noticed David being upset is if we didn't have practice, so that in itself is just a coach's dream," Edwards smiles.

And his dedication inspired his teammates just as much as they inspire him.

"It feels great. It feels great to be with people that are really good friends with you," David says happily.

His teammates wrote letters along with teachers and other friends to nominate David for a "Yes I Can" award. It's a national award that recognizes young people for overcoming what seems to be the insurmountable. The award is validation for what many already know- David can do just about anything.

"Great things can happen, and we're just thrilled it's happening to David," Ms. Buckner says.

But David's continuing to race toward even higher goals...One six-minute mile at a time.

"I don't want to be slow. I plan to go to the Olympics," David exclaims.

David even made his own cross country course to practice on his own time. It pays off too, because he's won over 30 medals and 10 trophies for his running in high school.