Cross Country

“BOOM” went the clappers. My year group (The 12 year old boys) were jogging lightly down our school field. It was a sunny Friday, and our school had our annual event, the school Cross Country. Many people predicted it to be a wet and ugly Friday. But no, the sun was shining beautifully and there were no clouds in sight.

As I came around the corner of the field, I entered the muddy reserve. “Holy Moly” I said in shock. My shoes were smothered in the gooey mud. The heavy mud caused my feet to drag along the grass because it was weighing me down. My legs started to ache and then I started to lag behind the pack of 6 people who were in front of me.

I started running into the bush walk, and to my surprise, I saw a colourful wig being worn by my friend Aidan. He was a couple of metres away from me, so I decided to catch his tail. I almost reached him, but he was gone and was nowhere to be seen. The mud caused me to slip. I looked up and saw that I had only just missed a tree that could have hit my head. Although my legs were aching, I was determined to make it to the finish line. I hacked the pain and ran the final lap of the track.

The finish line wasn't too far off from where I was running. I sprinted up our school field and then I crossed the playground. I could barely breath because my throat was parched. I ran up to where I saw our school students cheering us on. As I crossed the finish line, I let out a huge sigh of relief.

“Phew, I’m glad that’s over”! I said. I had a long drink and then I washed my shoes which were covered in mud. My highlight of the race was definitely running through the bush walk, even though I slipped. I was thankful that I almost placed in the top 8 but just fell short. My goal was that I would stop only once, and I actually accomplished that. It was a long day for me, but I felt like I could do it all again!