Blog 4

Ever since I can remember, I have loved being outside playing or doing something that has involved athletic ability. From racing around the block on my bike to climbing my grandma’s 50 foot pine tree, I have always loved being active. However the one thing that I can single out as my favorite activity is running. In grade school we would have a timed run out to a student’s house in the country and back. I first realized I could excel at running when every time we did this, I would come back first. In junior high, my twin brother and I pushed each other in the mile every race, going 1-2 every time. Once high school came around, everyone expected us to run cross country (XC) and track. My brother kept with football while I moved on to XC. Although I didn’t reach my goal of making it to state, I was still fairly accomplished for a freshman. Track came along and held greater things in store, as I qualified for state in the 3200m. Sophomore year was the same only better, and once junior year came about, I was pretty excited. However when the end of the basketball season came around, I became interested in shorter races. After serious deliberation, my coach let me try the 400m. I think he jokes around about it now, saying that he was waiting for the right time to let me run it, because I would up running a school record on the first time out! After medaling at state in that and other events, training for XC became the next focus. After medaling at every race, and winning all but 3 meets as a team, our team won the state championship! Then the next spring, my distance days were over as I switched to mid-sprints and relays. Nothing but good came from this as I medaled in all four events at state again, and our 1600m relay won gold! I can say that from a personal standpoint, running has had a huge impact on my life; not only from an accomplishment standpoint, but also from the great memories it brought me.