I'll never forget the time

As my feet thumped on the ground, my lungs were collapsing and every chance I got, I was gasping for air, praying that it would over soon. My legs were screaming and my heart was hammering. The crowd around me was chanting hungrily,”RATA,RATA”. My ears were straining at the desperate screams of the crowd and my feet were dragging behind me. I breathed in and out, coughing and spluttering as I did so.

I rounded a corner,relieved to see that there was only about 100 metres to go. The crowd cheering me on made me go into a quick sprint. I ran and ran,keeping my eye on the prize,the finish line. My clothes were drenched in sweat and my socks felt like they had been swimming.

As the finish line was coming closer,my legs moved faster. I ran and ran as if my life depended on it. I couldn’t wait to get to the finish line but my thoughts wandered,”what if  someone was about to overtake me?,what if they canceled the race?,what if I had miscounted and I wasn’t coming third?”. I put my mental pedal down and I imagined I was running 100km per hour.

 My legs were nearly falling apart by the time I reached the red finish line. A teacher handed me a card with a big,bronze three on it.I hopped in the line as my heart was recovering from the wild ride. A great big grin spread across my face as my parents gave me the thumbs up sign. I felt warm inside and for once in the first time in my life,proud.😁