Personal Narrative: My First Cross-Country Race

“Tricia, remember that it doesn’t matter how you run, but make sure to beat the girl in front of you.” Coach Sam commands with a competitive gleam in her eye. I look down and my legs are shaking like it’s my first cross-country race, and I haven’t run dozens of them before. The competitive aspect of running is what I hate most; it’s been a long time since I’ve run just for fun. Every race makes me feel emptier inside as the competition increases, and lately I’ve even been thinking about quitting the team.
“Tricia Louise.” I look over and my parents are marching towards me. I should be happy to see them at such an important event, but I know they’re only here to make sure I come in first. “Make sure you tie your shoelaces. If you fall, then your running career will be over,” my mom demands. “The last thing you want is to come in second.”

My ankle is sore, so I won’t be running my best race today. If I really want to make my parents proud, I could speed up and focus on beating everyone else, but a thought occurs to me. With everyone pressuring me all the time, it doesn’t ever occur to me to ignore the other team and just focus on me once in awhile.
When I finally begin to run, the other girls aren’t on my mind. I can only see myself crossing the finish line and not the other girls. I don’t focus on the “girl in front of me.” I only focus on the way my sneakers touch the dirt and the way my arms move when I run. The crunch of the leaves underneath my shoes calm me and I close my eyes and smile.
As soon as I cross the finish line, I can’t stop a huge grin from breaking across my face. “Yes!” I whisper while clenching my fists in victory. I let go of the thoughts of overcoming my opponents and ran my own race. Competition is definitely a part of running, yet when I centered my entire life around competition I lost my love for the sport itself. I decided to join the team because of my love for running. Due to that love, I will certainly not quit