One
sport that I joke I would like to leave out of my memory
were my 7 official
years as a runner. Before I was known around school as the “softball
player” I
was “the runner.” In third grade our class voted whom they
wanted to participate in every Field Day event.
These events consist of relays and shuttle races, pie eating contests,
and other outdoor activities.
It’s a great day and my class always picked me to compete in
all the running events, which if I told people that today I don’t
know if they would believe me because of my distaste for
running. In fourth grade I began my official running career when
I participated in the Seashore
Striders
,
which was coached my elementary school physical education
teacher. Although I currently make jokes about
being a runner, it was one of the
best decisions I made in choosing a sport to participate
in because I met a lot of different people and my running
experience helped me in
every other sport I tried.
My best
memory from my days as a runner occurred when I was eleven
years old and we were competing in the regional
race in Pennsylvania.
Qualifications for nationals of cross-country are difficult to
explain,
but athletes can qualify individually and as a team.
My team consisted of me and seven of my friends and
I was always the fifth
or
sixth ranking
runner on the team. Who knows what came over me that
day, but I finished in first place for my team and
fifth overall in a race with over 250
people. This was the best race I ran, but that was
not why this memory sticks out so fondly in my mind. Prior
to the race my dad
made a bet
with me that if I came in third or fourth of my team
he would quit smoking and if I was in the top two then
he would quit smoking
and
buy me a television
for my room. I’m sure he was not counting on me finishing in the
top four, but I did and instead of the television I got a bike. The other
part of this story is that most of this race took place in the woods
so spectators could not see you until the last quarter mile. Well when
the first purple jersey would be seen through the trees, my dad got his
camera ready to take pictures and when he saw that it was me he dropped
the camera 
and ran the last quarter mile at my side encouraging me the
entire way. This may not seem like a significant story, but for me it
was a chance to win a bet with my dad and I came to the realization that
I love to prove people wrong. No one expected me to be the top runner
in our team, but for that race I was and that drive is still with me
today. The lessons that people learn when participating in athletics
carry over to other real-life situations and the drive to prove people
wrong is a positive quality to me and I’m glad that I was
able to do it.
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