The Run of a Lifetime
by Cameron Smedley
Bang! He shot the gun, and everyone started running. The pounding of everybody's feet hitting the ground was like a stampede of animals. I could hear the water squishing out of the ground and into my shoes with every step I took. It was a rainy, gloomy day, but it was perfect for a race. I started out in the back of the herd. I always started near the back. I was afraid that if I started out faster than that that I would burn myself out and be super slow for the rest of the race. It was pouring down rain, and I was already completely soaked. We were cheered on as we headed into the woods. The path was so thick with mud that with each step I took, my whole foot disappeared into the ground. So much for my super awesome running shoes. I slid as I ran and had to try hard not to fall with every step I took. Pulling each foot out of the six inches of mud every time I took a step was going to get very tiring. All I heard was the breathing of the other runners, the rain hitting the trees, the slopping sound of feet in mud, and my own heart racing.
Only about half a mile into the race, I thought to myself, "Man, this is going to be a long race!" Up and down hills. Around ponds, which were so overflowing that I had to be careful not to slip off the path and fall in. We ran through all kinds of twists and turns in the forest. I was disgusting. Every time my foot hit the ground, mud splashed up onto me. There was a girl behind me who had been there the whole race. Even when I sped up she stayed right behind me. I was determined not to let her pass me. My heart was racing, and I was breathing hard. My shoes were so wet that it was like running on soaked sponges. My legs were like rubber, but there was only half a mile left of the race. I thought to myself, “You can do this, you can speed up for this finish. You can’t let that girl pass you!” So I did. I went faster.
The path went back into the woods, and the mud was ankle deep again. I was going as fast as I could make myself go. My chest hurt from breathing so heavily. I pushed on. My body was telling me to stop, to slow down, but my head told me to push on even harder. The girl was still behind me, and there were only about three hundred meters left. I came around a corner and could see the finish line. It was then that my foot stuck in the thick patch of mud, and I fell down. The whole front of me was covered in mud, even my face.The girl passed me and I struggled up. She was getting closer to the finish, closer to beating me. I wasn’t about to let that happen. I started up at a sprint and ran as fast as my legs could possibly carry me. I was starting to enter the chute and was only about a meter behind the girl who passed me. There were people on both sides of the track screaming for me and jumping up and down. I had to pass her! With only about five meters left, I edged passed her and barely beat her. I finished only about half a second before her. I slowed down, and my team congratulated me with cheers and high fives. I smiled, breathing hard, and just then realized just how dirty I was. This was the most fun I had ever had at a race! It was then that I realized that if you really put your mind to something, nothing can stand in your way of achieving it.