Guest Post by Michael: Track

My sister and I before the race

This year I decided to try a new sport, track.  My sister has run track for a long time, and I thought it would be a fun sport.  Track practice was two months long, and we practiced Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. At first I didn’t know which event I should do. There was the 100 meter, 400 meter, the 800 meter or the 1500 meters, and I tried each one.  After trying all of the events, I decided that I enjoyed the 1500 meter run the most. The 1500 meter run is about one mile and is the longest event I can do. 

After training for a couple weeks, I had my first meet. I was very nervous that I would get last place when I ran, but I did great! Every track meet is very busy, and there are many people watching, cheering, or competing in a race. Before every competition, I have to warm up and get my hip number to determine which lane I ran in.  After warming up, all the competitors are put on the track, and a gun sets us off.  I went to many different meets at different high school tracks this season. At my first competition, my time was 6 minutes and 14 seconds, and I got 3rd place. Over the past 2 months, I have been to about 6 meets, and at one of the meets, I got my best time of 6 minutes and 7 seconds receiving 2nd place. 
After working hard all practice we had a track party.  It was at a beautiful park, with a big field and playground. There were also many kids with enormous water guns. I forgot to bring my water gun so I borrowed someone’s. After I squirted a lot of kids, I was extremely soaked.  Then, my coach gave out the trophies. I got a trophy that had my name on it, and my sister also got one that had her name too.  Track is hard work, but I have learned a lot this season and have had fun! 

At the start line

Running

Running to the finish