Feeling like you're on top of the world. Acquiring the redemption for nearly killing myself in the past few minutes. The crowd's sound was both exhilarating and heightening my senses. Holding the one small piece of metal that told me that I was one of the best. This was a moment that I never thought could never have been in the grasp of my reach.
 
Running has always been one of my biggest passions. I began running just as any other kid would have, figuring out that putting more weight into your legs and moving them faster and longer led you to move faster. Truly mind-blowing. I was never truly one of the fastest kids. Over the start of middle school, many things hindered my running, covid being one of them. I never thought I truly had potential, but the 7th grade track season seemed to prove otherwise. I worked as one of the hardest, never willing to give up. With this, I had now an especially heightened passion for running.
 
With this additional interest, I started to do some research into the area of track. So I went to one of the top info-filled sites, complete with hundreds of thousands of videos, tutorials, and basically whatever you could think of. I logged into YouTube and searched "Running races". But once I found several videos, I realized a pattern. Many of the top finishers were people who weren't of my race or nationality. Everywhere I looked I saw people from Europe, from America, from Africa. Not many Indians. Doubt started to creep in, "Do I really stand a chance?…"
 
With this doubt still lingering, the Track season of 2023 came to a start. This time I was even more determined to be one of the best. As I began to spend more time in this environment, I noticed the same patterns as my research. Even though the Troy School district had its fair share of Indians, many of the fastest and top finishers were like the ones that I saw in the videos. They all had different clothing, ate food such as bagels and bacon for breakfast, and wore slides to school.
 
I planned to use my wits for track. I heard rumors from other students that the 4x800 record could be broken this year. Apparently, that was my newest goal now. Using my amazing smarts, I powered past the leading 2 racers in the 'tryouts' for the 4x800 relay. This pure feeling of joy was why I wanted to be run in the first place. Now, I started to move through the heats. Top of the charts. Point scorer. A few days later, I met my other 3 teammates. Asa, Owen, and Andy. They too were middle-distance runners. "We gotta get this record," Andy said, "Last year at counties we were only a second off from the record. Everyone needs to run a 2:26 or faster if we want a chance at this." We all nodded our heads in acknowledgment. I soon understood that my place in this relay wasn't fixed. There were many other suitable candidates just waiting to snatch up my position. I needed to work my butt off if I wanted to stay. It didn't help that my fears were starting to come true. So far, everyone else in my relay was white.
 
The next few weeks of track blazed by, too fast for my liking. I worked my body like crazy to secure my spot in counties. But hey, good news. We broke the school record! We just had to replace a guy, the one called Asa. I simply can't explain the excitement I felt that day. I screamed so vigorously at my team one might've thought thoroughly despised them. But over time, our teammate for counties was a redhead called Gabe. I had many fond memories of this track season but I was anxiously looking forward to counties.
 
"Does it really have to be this hot?" I felt myself wondering as we waited for the announcers to call our event. The day was blistering and dehydrating, with temps of over 80s. We had a personal water boy who handed us our water. (He wasn't obligated to do so but he was our backup so he made himself useful). "Thanks, Jonah" I said as I handed my water back to him. I looked at my teammates who were all in the same state as me. Dreading the sun and sweating buckets. "You guys feeling all right?" I asked. "Yeah, we're good just hot," Owen replied. "We don't got much more just relax." I encouraged. "3200 METER RELAY" The announcer called. "That's us guys! Time to go!" I said, stating the obvious. My fear started to show again, adding to my already nerve-stricken state. "Relax. Just stay in control and you've already won." I reminded myself. 
 
Jumping up and down, I saw Andy get into the classic waterfall start of the 800. "Let's go Andy!" I cheered. "Runners, on your mark, get set, BOOM!" Andy set off, using 3 quick strides to get himself to first place. He just had to hold it now. Still hopping to keep myself warmed up, I saw Andy's lead gain inches with each step until he was 50 meters ahead of the pack. As he finished the last curve, I started to step up into the receiving position. Knees bent, left arm outstretched, palm open, I was ready.
 
As I felt the cold metal hit my hand, I felt the shock of what I truly was doing. I was running in counties! This kickstarted my mind, and I started pumping. With my arms pumping and legs accelerating, I felt the elevating rush of adrenaline hit. Soon, with the wind rushing past me, everything faded away. It felt as if I could only hear myself, my breath, my rhythm. Everything started to fall away after the first 100 meters. Soon the crowd didn't exist. All I felt was the force of the ground as my feet hit it, and exhaustion creeping in. As I blazed through the track, I started to feel the tell-tale burn of exhaustion. My breaths of bigger and more desperate. Each step felt half a pound heavier. Each swing of my arms got tighter. The crowd started to appear again, along with the track. I only had 300 meters left. At this stage, the adrenaline is mostly gone. I'm just trying to make it through now. As I neared the 200-meter mark, "He's catching up on baker!" I heard. I risked valuable time and energy to look back. It was true. He WAS gaining on me. My older fear reappeared. As an Indian, could I really keep our lead? I decided to throw this out the window. I needed to focus. As we hit the 150 mark, I knew this was my time. I switched to a higher gear and kicked. I kicked with everything I had, no longer able to feel my legs or arms. I saw Gabe, ready to receive. The process of handing off flashed through my mind as I was 10 meters away. With the remaining energy left, I hit the baton into Gabe's hand as if it were a target. Successful handoff! I moved off the track and panted. Now it was just up to Gabe and Owen.
 
Not much to say about Gabe's turn. He held our number 1 position throughout the 2 laps. However, the Royal Oak team gained some ground. I feared that this would bite us again later. As he handed off the baton to Owen, I relaxed somewhat. I knew that Owen was a strong anchor and could finish the race in first. The first lap was fine. But then something disastrous started to happen.
 
Owen was starting to lose ground. As he neared the 200-meter mark, he was overtaken. I was stunned. I couldn't believe what was happening. I saw Owen struggling, teeth clenched. I then looked over to the other Royal Oak contestant. He was much worse off than Owen. He looked as if he were about to drop right then and there. I realized that Owen could make the gap. It wasn't even that big. As Owen cleared the last curve, I yelled at him with all my remaining energy "KICK, KICK, KICK!" Owen here was possibly in the worst state of the race. Everything in your body is telling you to stop. But just like me, he knew how important this race was to our team. He kicked into another gear and passed the Royal Oak Contestant. "LETS GOO!" Our team screamed. We all ran to Owen to clap him on his back. We did it.
 
As I stood on the number 1 spot on the podium, I felt like I achieved one of the greatest things in the world. I realized that sure, genetics might be a big part of what you can achieve, but it's really the effort that you put in to achieve your dreams. Everyone and anyone could truly achieve. This day will forever be remembered to me.