Monday, May 4, 1998

The Track Comeback

In my first ever official track race I ran a 6:15 mile.  Mom talked me into joining the school team because she thought it would be good for me.  I was put on the junior varsity squad because I'm only a seventh grader and can't really compete with the bigger, faster ninth graders.

The greatest thing about my first race is that I came from behind on the final lap to barely beat out this kid from the other school.   It was a battle of wills down to the wire.  For once in my life, I triumphed.  Everyone was watching me dig in deep, give it my all, mustering a hidden strength they didn't know I possessed.  They'd been screaming at me to pass him the whole time, so I did, with every ounce of effort that I had.  I'd been about five feet behind him for most of the race.  On that final lap, the coach got right up in my face as I passed him, injecting me with the extra encouragement I needed to catch him.

Several people congratulated me after I beat him, but not my friend Will.  He just shrugged it off like it was nothing.  And why should he?  I finished behind him and got third in the JV race.  I should have been the one congratulating him.   

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