"The Race" by Alejandro Q

It was a hot noon at Central Park, the easy ups were pitched in the grass and along the small spaces of shade that existed. We all waited anxiously for our turns to go up to the line, to prove ourselves for the last time. My heart was pounding like a drum in  my chest. My mouth was as dry as the desert. The hot summer sun beat down on my shoulders. I stood waiting, readying myself for the signal from my coach. The team and I had warmed up earlier, I had felt shaky the entire time. We were called up to the start line, we said a prayer hoping for everyone’s success we got in line, tense, silent, I looked over briefly at the other schools, but I knew better, my only competition was myself, to not give up or give in to the nagging in my head that was sure to come in the following minutes.

“BANG” the racing gun shot out. I took off sprinting down the hard dirt trail. My legs and arms were pumping in rhythm, “left right left right left right” I mentally told myself. I came around the first mile the clock read 6:15, seeing my teammates paces in front and behind me, we ran as a pack, we wanted to the whole race, but not all of us could keep the pace up. First it was John, then Bob, and then I fell behind, I couldn’t keep up the breakneck pace. “Not fast enough,” I muttered to myself, speeding up, signaling to my teammates behind me to keep pace with me, to try to stick together, pushing ourselves to not fall behind any further. I saw other racers pass us, one by one, we tried to stay with them, and managed to pass a few, but our  energy was fading fast. The two mile mark was nearing, 12: 45. We were invigorated by our falling time, we began sprinting trying desperately to catch up to the group ahead, but our limbs were too tired and our breaths too ragged. We set our sights on the the finish line, a few minutes, seconds away, I was falling behind, my teammates urged and pushed me to keep the pace, “just a little longer” they promised. John pointed a few yards ahead of him, a pair of runners, “we can’t let them beat us.”  With one last burst of effort and determination we ran to catch up, John passed me on the last little hill, he beat the pair, Bob and myself managed to pass one on the final sprint to the finish line. 19:02, 5 seconds from a personal record, minutes away from contributing to the team placement, but it was over and we had run our hardest.

My heart hammered in my chest, my lungs sucked in the dry air of the day, hurting with every breath. I felt like throwing up, I walked with slow and deliberate steps focusing on not moving to violently, I needed water and shade, my shirt clung to me from sweat and my knees buckled with my steps and my legs shook when I stood still. I felt someone clap me on the back, I accepted a water bottle from a blur and sat down, I waited and drank slowly, we still had a cool down lap to run. Countless hours of practice, before school, after school, during the summer had all amounted to today. Invitational and league races had prepared us for the pressure of the race. Teammates had encouraged us, laughed with us, trained with us. Coach had talked to us, yelled at us, encouraged us, unified us. We had become a family.

This race had been my first league final in cross country, and sadly my last because I joined cross country in my senior year. I had originally joined the summer training to be with friends and find a way to get in better shape, but I grew to enjoy running greatly. It gave me a way to connect with my dad, he participates in a yearly relay race at work, and I made new friends. Running also was an escape from stress, I could run and not focus on anything but my breathing and the floor ahead of me. Even on the worse running days the training wore me out enough so I would be able to come and fall into effortless sleep. My time of the team showed me what it truly means to be committed to something, and also gave me perspective and a newfound respect for the student athlete, especially the runners, who day in and day out, rain or sunshine (or in our climate, wind), would show up to run and loved every second. It was truly a privilege being able to be part of the team and I really missed out my other years of high school.