Cross Country Meet

On Friday, I had a cross country meet, that was taking place in Waterford.  Our whole team got out of school early, hopped on a bus, and headed to the meet.  It was a chilly day, and it was raining.  By the time we got there, it was pouring rain.  I did not want to run, and neither did many of my teammates.  We started to walk the course, and at one part of the first mile, there was a gigantic hill.  Great, I thought.  There was no way I was going to make it up this hill, twice.  We continued to walk to course, and I noticed that there was a bunch of hills.  This was going to be one long meet.  The JV boys ran first, then JV girls.  After them, Varsity boys ran, and then Varsity girls.  I and 6 others were the last ones to run.  Some JV boys said it wasn't that bad, while other girls said it was the worst course. So, I went into it not really knowing what to expect.  The announcer called all the Varsity girls to the starting line.  I was getting a little nervous, but knew that in 23 minutes, it would all be over.  Boom.  The gun went off, and we all started running.  The big hill was coming up.  Then, it was right in front of me.  I started climbing it, and by the time I was at the top, I felt like I was parallel to the ground.  My legs felt like jello, but I kept running.  Sooner or later, the next big hill arrived.  It wasn't as bad as the first one, but I was still in pain.  I went up those hills one more time, praying that this race would be over.  I was nearing the end of the race, I kept telling myself that it was almost over.  The finish line was finally in sight.  I saw the colorful flags, and I started my final sprint.  Just as I was sprinting, some girl came up and shoved me to the side.  By then, I was tired, in pain, irritated, and sore.  I elbowed her back and we went neck and neck all the way to the finish line.  After I passed the line, I fell to the ground and tried to catch my breath.  My final time was, 22:40.  It was a hard course, but I felt like I got something out of it.  I was happy that I got through it and didn't give up.

-Claire Henderson