My
First 5K
I sat on the dirty curb next to my best
friend Emily. We were up against a fence with peeling black paint. The curb was
littered with soda cans and candy wrappers. It looked as if there was a party
here last night. We were getting ready for our first 5K together. We were both
scared out of our heads.
I looked at my sweaty palms as my mom pinned
the number to my chest. My heart was pounding out of my body and I had a knot
in my stomach. I felt like I was going to puke. My first 5K, I thought to myself,
four weeks of training for this. I can do it, I encouraged myself. I had a
feeling I couldn't though.
Emily and I walked over to the start and
took our place at the back. I squeezed Emily's hand as we waited for the
signal. Then, the bullhorn blared in our ears.
My feet started to move without me even
trying. It was like magic. I felt weightless. The mob of people running was
like a group of villagers running away from a monster.
We got our pace as we approached the big
hill. The hill looked like a giant. Every time a person went over the hill, it
looked as if the hill had eaten them. The grass lining the hill looked as if
they were big hairy sideburns. The pot holes in the street looked like dimples
in the Giant's face. The dark black pavement looked as if it were the Giant's
skin.
This isn't so bad, I thought to myself.
We ran up hills, down hills, around curbs,
on the street, and on the sidewalks. It was a lot of work, but we persevered
and pushed ourselves to stick with it.
After 30 more minutes of running, we were
both dripping in sweat. The sun was shining on our backs and frying us like
bacon. I could almost hear a waitress saying, “Two orders of bacon coming right
up!”
The trees around us were tall and
protective. They had tall pointed tops, and big bushy leaves. They were painted
with pink, purple, and white blossoms. It was like they were huge security
guards. It felt like the perfect day.
"I see it!" Emily exclaimed,
"There's the finish!" I rounded a corner only to spot a grand banner
with the word finish on it. My heart filled with hope.
There was a crowd of people on both sides of
me. There was a loud roar from the left side, then an earsplitting scream from
the right side. It felt great to have all those people cheer for me.
The crowd was watching me run and yelling
things like, "Keep going!" or "Almost there!" Their
motivating words gave me faith and I proceeded to the finish.
