Date/Location: | April 17, 2021 – Grass Valley, CA |
Distances: | 5km |
Time: | 25:57 PR! (Previous PR 31:47, 2018) |
Place: | Ariel: 1st Place, 0-12yrs; (4th Female OA) |
Teammates: | Anna, Robin & Troy Soares; Ellie Nickel; Nick Lynch |
Go!! I start running. Today I’m doing the rescue run 5k at CER. My friend Ellie is running it with me. I keep running and try to go faster. I run into a bend that directs me back to the starting line. I pass the starting line the opposite way now.
Now there is only a young girl my age and two older boys, probably in high school or college. I’m pretty sure I’m running too fast, but I really want to pass that girl. I can see up ahead of me, a tough hill that I’d soon be running up. I’m now almost to the hill, the girl in front of me slows to a stop at the bottom of the hill. I pass her. I run up the hill and run slowly at the top to catch my breath.
After the hill, there is a small downhill. I run down the hill and into a small wood. It’s very pretty. I run over two bridges and around some ponds. I see Anna and Ben cheering as I exit the woods. I run across a path surrounded on both sides by two ponds. I see one of the guys in front of me. I sprint and pass the guy. After I gain some space from him I slow down. I keep the first guy in front of me in the same spot and I don’t let him gain space from me.
I run up a steep hill and pass a cottage. I keep running up and up through some woods. The first guy stops and I try to catch him, but he hears I’m coming and begins to run. When I exited the woods I saw the trail I would be turning onto soon. The guy in front of me starts to walk again. He had just reached the top of the hill. I run fast to try to catch him but, I don’t gain much on him, since we are both going at the same pace. This is because I was running up a hill, while he was walking on the flat trail ahead. He starts running again.
I finally reach the trail. The trail is right next to a canal. I run for a while on the canal trail trying to catch the first guy. He keeps stopping and walking, while I jog. I stopped trying to sprint and just keep a steady jog because I wanted to save my energy and I was already tired. The guy would walk then sprint. He did that over and over again. Up ahead I spot an aid station the guy walks with his water. When I arrive I grab my water and run while I try to drink it in the effort of trying to catch up to the guy who had just started running. The water was hard to drink while I was running, so I slowed down to a walk to drink it. I gulped the water down and continued on the trail.
After running a little way I spot people running on a trail above me. I watch for mom or dad. I don’t see them so I stop looking for them since I’m tired. As I run little ways I hear dad shouting my name. I look at the trail above me and spot dad before he disappears into the trees. I keep running. The guy in front of me starts walking in longer sessions, but as soon as I’m close he sprints away.
Up ahead I spot a sharp turn. A course worker tells us to turn there. The turn brings us onto the path above the canal. I look down trying to spot people, but I didn’t see anybody. The guy in front of me keeps getting closer as I continue to jog while he runs or walks. Finally, he gives up and lets me pass him. I pass him. Behind me, I hear him sprint to catch up to me, so I sprint too. Then he stops and walks again.
As I run I look down to the canal and see some kids and adults running or walking. I spot a smiley face on the ground. That represents that there are no more hills. I give a silent cheer and thank God for getting me this far with so much strength. After running for a while I approach the aid station again. This time I did not get any water. The aid station merges onto the canal and I begin to run on it again in the opposite direction. I see people heading out. Mainly walker since all the runners started earlier.
I run on the canal for a while. I know I’m almost there. I exit the canal and go down a dirt path. I begin to recognize the path and know I’m almost there. I run faster and faster. I see the mile marker meaning the finish line is in sight. I run down steps and land on a bark-covered path. It’s the finish line straight away. Mom, Dad, Anna, and Ben are cheering me on. I give it my all and finish! I could not have done it without God though. He helped the whole way. Thanks to him I got first place in my wave and 10th overall.