Left, foot, right foot, left foot, right foot. Not even a minute into the race and I had already fallen prey to the trance-like state that steady running can induce. Left foot, right foot. As I overtook someone I heard their cry of anguish, and grinned. Left foot, right foot. Then all of a sudden I felt his hot breath on my neck, and I knew I had to shake him off. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the blackberry covered shortcut I was looking for. It used to be a gate into an old farm paddock, but over the years blackberry bushes had almost completely sealed it off, but it was still available as a legal shortcut during Cross Country. As I veered to the left I heard my trailer’s footsteps recede as he headed for the longer blackberry free path. Before I knew it the blackberry was upon me, but I ran on through ignoring the pain when a stray thorn cut my leg, and then just as abruptly as when I entered it, the blackberry was behind me.
As I descended down the following slope I fell back into the trance. Left foot, right foot. I barely noticed it when I passed another person. Then instinctively I leapt over a massive, yet well concealed patch of wet mud. My pursuer wasn’t so lucky though, and I winced when I hear him sprawl with a large thump onto the muddy ground. Two down, two to go I thought grinning, but when I rounded he corner, a small cry of dismay escaped my dry lips. The other two contestants had already got to the dirt path along the bottom of the track! With renewed vigour I made my way down. Left foot, right foot.
When I looked up again, I was surprised to see I had run over half the track and had almost caught up to the third contestant! When I lifted my head to the sky, however, I saw the foreboding black rain cloud approaching. The next few seconds I prepared for the force of the storm. When it hit, the force behind it was so strong I actually got knocked back a step. All of a sudden my opponent slipped in a fresh cowpat, and I heard him swear explosively. “Language,” I reminded him as I passed. He simply grinned. I looked to the ground and kept at it. Left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot. The next minute passed without incident as I gradually got closer to the leader. Footsteps sounded behind me, I turned my head, alarmed, too see the boy I passed earlier behind me! As I leapt over Slush Gully, as racers so fondly named it, I had a brief respite as my trailer stopped and looked for a safer way to jump it. I chuckled as I realised he could never catch me unless I tripped. The next moment…. I tripped. As I cursed my bad luck. The boy passed me with an even bigger grin then before and said “Language.” It didn’t seem so funny any more. I scrambled up and took off after him.
Up the hill, over the thorn bush, across the paddock, and I was getting closer. Then I was at the stile and climbing over. I was slightly shocked how far I had come, and then I was back in the school grounds, the final stretch. I was getting soooo close to getting 2nd place; I could almost reach out and touch my competitor. The finish line rapidly approached. 5 meters, 4, 3, 2… 1. We crossed it together, we were 2nd equal, and our grins were huge. As we approached the podium, I felt a sense of satisfaction. The race was over.
Fin