Runners Note

I run up to the corral

I am somewhat late as there are already a lot of people in the corral

Waiting for their time to put all of their training to the test

It’s Broadstreet day, the biggest ten mile race in all of Philadelphia,

,but I am not alone,

,I am joined by several other Students Runners, who have all trained with me

We like to say that it isn’t about the speed but about getting there,

,and while usually that is true this time my group is going for speed

As I walk up to the corral I feel the damp air on my skin,

The hard pavement supporting my feet,

,and the houses on either side of me.

As we get closer to the start I feel the energy well inside of me,

,then for a moment everything slows down to a crawl, almost stopping,

,but before everything can completely stop, the buzzer sounded,

,the Rocky music began to play and everyone in our corral was off.

 Immediately, I noticed that some of the students I was running with were already way ahead of me, but I kept running with two other students who I had trained with, Gus and Lyev.

I realized that they were going way faster than I had expected, faster than most other people.

This time was for real…

There was a feeling of being freed by the wind at my back, seeing the trees and buildings fly by,

,the only thing keeping me from flying away freely were my feet grounding me to the pavement.

I felt time fly by while noticing every second of the run.

At that moment I began to smile,

I thought back on a time when I never I could go this fast this far,

,all the way back in freshman year,

,even at the beginning of this year I didn’t think I could go this fast.

As I slowly begin to once again become aware of my surroundings I notice that I am at mile nine.

I also noticed that neither Gus, Lyev nor the other runners are with me.

Still I know I must finish the race.

To me its no longer about being the fastest,

,but getting to the finish line, with the rest of the team.

Quickly I find everything left inside of me and use it as fuel and used my drive to ignite it.

I saw the finish line and I also saw a few other Students Runners up ahead.

They started sprinting so I joined in.

We kept sprinting until we felt the cool shadow of the banner above the finish line cross us.

With that it felt as if a gate had been opened as well as closed.

The end of being trapped but also the end of being free.

A race had just ended by a new journey that had just began.