From
the moment the meet had begun to now, my three running-mates and I had seen the
rise and fall of other teammates of ours. We, ourselves, had suffered some
losses, but had also gained great victory; none of that seemed as important as
what now lay before us. I could feel it, and I could see it in the eyes of my
teammates, it was once again time for another 4x4 race. The 4x4 has always been
the last event held at any high school meet I have been to. Our teammates, various
fans, and the teammates of our opposition lined the track to watch the
representatives of their designated school’s run as one for the one mile relay
race. Whether one is in the competition, or merely a spectator at the event,
there is clearly an electric atmosphere that runs alongside this particular
race and starts anyone’s adrenaline flowing. Our race though, this race that
had my team’s nerves jumping, was no ordinary 4x4.
The
four of us were seniors in high school now, all destined to go our separate ways
after graduation, and it had been several years since our school had been
represented by a 4x400 meter relay team at the Oregon State Championships in
Eugene. The upcoming minutes meant so much to all of us, our whole team, and
our school. The top two teams to cross the finish line at the conference meet
are the two teams that go on to the state championship and we wanted it.
Stepping
up to the starting line, we all knew getting to Eugene would be no easy task. Our
conference was home to four of the top ten ranked 4x4 teams in the 5A state
division, but only two of us get to move on. The starter gave the directions
for the race and the last three legs of the relay for each team stepped off the
track as the first leg of each team got into position to begin what would seem
like the longest relay race of my life. The gun went off and Shane began our
team’s race with a quick start. 360 meters to go for Shane and Garrett would receive
our golden baton. Those 360 meters did not pass by as fast as my teammates and
I would have liked as we screamed and cheered for Shane down the last stretch. Five
other teams were ahead at this point. Worry and nerves seemed to boil within JJ
and I as Shane handed the baton along to Garrett. Our second leg began his race
the way he always began his 400 meter races… very slowly. I stepped onto the
track, lined behind five other teams as Garrett held sixth place. On the back
200 meters of Garrett’s race though, he put his legs into gear and came flying
down that last 100 meters toward me. All my nerves and worries sprung out of me
as I began my race and felt my grip tighten around the baton as my leg of the
relay began. My eye was on the prize and would settle for nothing less. I
rounded the corner of the first 100 meters, tearing up track trying to gain
better position. Fifth place, my mind
told me as I passed one opposing runner. Down the back 100 meter stretch, I
settled into a comfortable near-sprint as I slowly gained ground on the four
runners ahead of me. Starting to turn the corner of the last 200 meters I
imagined myself contracting like a coiled spring that would soon have to
release. Passing the 250 meter mark, I began to pass the team in fourth. Being
very unsportsmanlike, the fourth place runner kept cutting me off and spiking
my leg as I attempted to pass him in an outside lane. A flash of anger crossed
my mind with 130 meters to go and it was time for this spring to be sprung. I
felt myself dig into the track and tore passed the fourth place runner and into
the last 100 meter straight away. Three
to go, my mind said and suddenly those three did not seem so far ahead. As
I came back across the starting line and handed the baton to JJ, the gap
between him and the first place racer had lessened from nearly 25 meters to 12
meters. As I stepped off the track, finishing the fastest 4x400 meter leg I had
ever ran, I let out one loud, “RUN JJ!!!” and collapsed to the ground in
exhaustion and released bits of my lunch from their intestinal prison. I silently
rested on hands and knees with my eyes closed in the grass and prayed for JJ to
make a miracle happen. Suddenly the crowd went crazy. Above all the noise, I
could hear my sprint coach shouting, “GO JJ! GOOOOOO!!!!!” and I rose from the
ground to see my friend coming down the last 100 meters of the entire race running
6 meters ahead of the next three teams. JJ crossed the finish line and raised
his two index fingers to the sky and Shane, Garrett, and I instantly found
ourselves embracing him as we all screamed in celebration and the rest of our
track team sprinted onto the track and engulfed us like a giant amoeba.
We
had made it to state, with the fastest time our team had yet run, but even
better, we did it in seemingly miraculous fashion. Video of that race still
gives me goose-bumps and makes me so proud to this day. It is fun to take a
trip down memory lane every now and then, especially when you have memories
like this that can put a smile on your face for the rest of the day.
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