The day you’ve been training for all season – all your life! – finally arriving
The smell of the outdoors
Lacing up your ratty, trusty runners
Pulling on your team singlet
Good old warm up: karaoke and A/C kicks
When the officials call your name
Peeling out and putting on your number sticker
The anticipation a few inches behind the start line, before the gun goes off
When the gun finally goes off, and you take off like a bullet! (or not.)
The wind in your hair
When you break free from the crowd that forms as everyone pushes for the inner lane
Hearing someone breathe down your neck and speeding up and refusing to let anyone pass you
Feeling the track beneath your feet
At last passing someone you’ve been following for ages
Having only one lap left
Recognizing the ragged breathing of your teammates
Hearing someone cheer your name, or shout your school team
When you start sprinting during the last hundred meter stretch of the race (and pass someone!)
Finally – finally! – crossing the finishing line!
Being so parched, so breathless, you couldn’t care less about how you look
Knowing you’ve given it your all, from that almost-puking sensation in your throat
That feeling of utter exhaustion, that you feel half-dead but never more alive, all at the same time
Sweaty hugs and hi-fives, all round
Being reunited with your beloved water bottle
That oh-so-satisfying stretch afterward
And that Are-You-Crazy!? look people give you when you tell them you love long distance running
Are you still there? Run for Youth Central in the Scotiabank Calgary Marathon! (It’s like running and flying and volunteering all in one!)
Wonderful! You’ve captured the many aspects I love about running as well!
Awesome! I used to run, but then I quit… and then I started running again. Your poem really captures what I experienced as well – except that when I break free from the crowd, it’s mostly backwards instead of forwards 😀
That was the reason I quit at first.
But you know what? Now I just run for the joy of running!~
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