The Track

I was running. My arms were pumping at my sides. Air rushed into my lungs, then right back out. My eyes stayed focused on what was in front of me. They didn’t glance back at the other runners. They didn’t search the crowd for mom. Focusing forward was all they needed to do. The hard pounding in my chest leveled out as I entered my zone.

My zone was a place I went anytime I felt nervous, pressured, and/or scared. It calmed me down. Yet, I always made sure to leave a part of me in the real world. Right now the real world was on that track, and putting one foot in front of the other. I was feeling pretty good. Nobody was in front of me, and my zone was especially wonderful on that sunny day. Maybe that’s why I didn’t see the girl in the other lane pass me.

“Come on Jada you can you can do it”, yelled coach from the side lines. Coach also happened to be my dad. Just hearing him cheer me on made me get an extra boost of energy. I still didn’t look over to see him though. I needed to keep my focus on the track. This track was the only thing between me, and being state champion. My feet pounded down on the orange lane I was running in. I could see the finish line just a few yards away. The other runner and I were neck and neck. That’s when I heard a familiar voice. It wasn’t my dad’s voice. It was a young voice.

“Go Jada, go”, the voice yelled out. It repeated that over and over. I couldn’t help it anymore. I looked over. What I saw put a huge smile on my face. I saw my little 8 year old brother. He was running along the side the fence that separated the bleachers and track yelling, “You can do it Jada.” That was when I decided that I would win this race for him.

The finish line was 3 yards away, and the girl next to me was still tied with me. I found the last bit of energy in my body, and started to sprint the rest of the way. The girl was still right behind me. Just a little bit farther, I thought. Finally my feet sailed right over the finish line. I stopped and put my hands on my knees. I panted for air. The girl that came in second was doing the same. Standing up, I put out my hand.

“Good race”, I told her. She took my hand, and said the same to me. I could hear the crowd cheering, especially my mom. She kept shouting, “There she is, that’s my daughter.” I just laughed. My dad ran up to me and gave me a big hug. The rest of the track team came up to congratulate me. Once everything calmed down a little bit, a reporter from the town newspaper came up to me and asked, “So Jada, you are this year’s track champion. Do you have anything you want to say?”

“Well, I just want to thank my team mates, and my coach for helping me out, but most of all I want to thank my little brother, Eric.” I looked over at Eric in the bleachers. “I couldn’t have won this without him. I won this for him”. Eric came onto the track, and I gave him the biggest hug of the day.