Personal Narrative: My First Pair Of Running

The Beginning

The first time I ever put on a pair of running sneakers I thought It would be the last time. Running for me has opened up a world of opportunities from when I first started to run to this moment. Running has introduced friends, both old and new fast and slow, but never has there been a lonely time. Before I put on my first pair of running spikes I was viewed as un-athletic and socially awkward individual. Going to school was a chore and making friends was a challenge, but it all changed when I started to participate on the cross country team.

Seventh grade was the first year an individual could try out for a varsity team and me being un-athletic had no intention of joining one. School ended at two o’clock and as I walked towards the bus I noticed a

group of individuals from my grade laughing and having a great time as they ran by.

I asked them if they missed their bus, they replied “no we are on the cross country team”. Not knowing what that sport was I began to ask questions like how can one join this team, what do I have to practice and how friendly are the athletes. The team responded with one sentence, “all you need is a pair of legs and a positive attitude and you will be fine”. That same day as I got off the bus I ran up the driveway as fast a to beg my mom to sign a check worth two hundred dollars and drop me off at the school. I was desperate to make friends, going home each day and playing with a dog might seem like fun, but after years of doing so I began to feel alone. The next day after school, I walked to the coach’s office to meet him and the team. As I walked into the door, I noticed the smell of dead fish, as I would soon find out my coach was a vegetarian. Bill Gillin was his name and little did I know, but he would shape my future in ways I could only imagine. Having never run before in my life I thought the coach would simply say we just don’t have the room for another athlete, but to my amazement he greeted me with open arms. Apparently running is not the most

interesting event in a town controlled by soccer. The coach invited me to follow him out to the fields to meet the team, they were so inclusive, telling me their names and their personal records. Days went by and as I trained for the first meet I began to have a positive mindset. The day had finally come, my first race, Sutton vs. Hopedale the Sammie's vs. the Raiders. Both teams lined up on the starting line in order of personal records and how much experience the runner had. I was in the back stuck in a giant mud pit with brown sludge all over my sneakers. The official walked 50 feet in front of the line and shouted the following “On my command when the sound of the gun goes off you may proceed, runners on your mark, he then raised his hand holding the pistol waiting for all athletes to be still and then shouted, set and the gun fired as the stampede of runners began their hellish 3.1-mile race. The course I called home field was an old abandoned farm that was purchased by the school for storage. The grass and hey grew tall around the thinly cut course pained a day earlier. Horse prints and divots dented the ground as I tried my best not to land in one avoiding a sprain. 3.1 miles sounds short to me now, but then it felt like a marathon including hills taller than MT Everest and runways longer than Logan international airport. I crossed the finish line with a time of (insert time) coming almost dead last. The older members of the team congratulated me, but all I could think of was coming in last. That night my mother came to me and told me how well I ran, giving me the moral support to continue the uphill battle. I soon came to realize that in time I too would eventually have the endurance and stamina to come in first place, but this would take years of hard work and practice. The season was coming to a close and looking back at my results I noticed a slight increase in pace, making my mother and I very proud. Numerus seasons passed and my endeavors with indoor and outdoor track also produced great results allowing for each consecutive season to be better than the prior one. The four years of high school were full of achievements and disappointments, but my senior season was by far the most important.
Senior year was full of achievements although some were considered more crucial than others they all were part of making me into the athlete I am today. Summer training was never considered important, but my senior I decided to train each day to separate myself from the team. During the summer months running took on a new form focusing more so on longer runs maintaining a faster pace. Opening season began and when we took to our home course for a final time I turned my head and remembered how far I came. The race began and as cool atom air flew through my lungs I began to push myself, the blood in my veins heated my eyes began to water and then as I passed my teammates and competitors It hit me, I finale became the runner I dreamed of becoming. The next day the Sutton Millbury chronicle published the results, Harrison Mckinlay, Joe Perry and Tom Flynn Sweep competitors. Seeing my name in the paper ahead of the team gave me a feeling of accomplishments, however members of my own team became quite envious shouting negative chants and lies to supplement their loss. We then elected captions the next day and to spite me the team elected my rival who’s only goal was to better himself. The team then erupted into a civil war pinning each other against one another. Our team suffered as a result until I became weak due to a terrible cold and could no longer participate at the upcoming race allowing my rival to regain his title. Running to me has always been about the team, but as members began to graduate and underclassmen filled the ranks the atmosphere changed, everything was now shifted towards an individual focus. Recovery was long taking until the last week of the season returning for the coaches MSTCA cross country invitational. I have been attending this race sense the beginning achieving great success at the event from the 3kilomoter run to the 5kilometor run medaling each year. My senior year was no exception, the day was cold as frost covered the fairground and snowflakes began to cover my spikes. The gun shot fired and I was off my teammate hot on my heals were no compotation and as I came across the finish line I began to cough uncontrollably while placing 29 out of over 300 athletes. My team crossed two minutes after I did placing everywhere from the mid-100s to the high-200s. Our coach tried to unite the team for the next two weeks to put forth a stronger team at districts, but the only member to move on was myself. Districts was the only race determine which teams proceed on to states as a whole. We began the race strong but then everything began to crumble, runners fell to the back of the pack leaving everything to me. Realistically if my team held their own we would have made history unfortunately that was not the case. The season came to a bitter finish and though I proceeded to states individually It was nothing to the felling I wanted to share with the whole team.
My senior year was full of accomplishments and record setting races allowing me as an athlete to become a division one runner for Bryant university. The following season of indoor track there was no longer a vote to determine captaincy, democracy had failed and I took the vote into my own power proclaiming myself captain. Cross country shaped much of my life as a high school student teaching valuable lessons, making lasting friendships and bettering myself as an athlete. Challenging myself each day has developed my strength forcing me to do the right as I see the right committing myself to excellence.