I stepped off the blistering hot red track panting heavily with sweat poring down my face. I just won my race to get to the AAU junior Olympics in Detroit Michigan. I had a smile as big as Jupiter on my face. My event is racewalk, this event for 13-14 year olds is 3000 meters long, 71/2 laps! For those of you who are asking what the heck is race walk let me tell you it is a sort of a fast walk but with a specific form. The form is heel toe, heel toe and straight leg out front. On the car ride home my mom quickly e-mailed my coaches and some of my track friends parents that I had gotten first place. I was so tired because I woke up outlandishly early to get to the track and to make it to my race on time so as soon as we got back to the hotel we were staying in for our stay and fell into a deep dreamless sleep. The next track practice at 6:30 p.m. with high adrenalin, I was congratulated and pushed really hard with everybody else to get ready for nationals.
It was one week from nationals and I heeded up to flint Michigan with my family to see my grandparents and compete in the junior Olympics. It was late July 2013, the day of the race and I was really nervous. It was 11:00 and already I was sweating, it was blazing hot. I was in the warm up area warming up with laps and stretches and then I herd the call. “All 13 year old racewalkers please report to the bullpen”. I went jumpy nervous and ready to wet my shorts but ready to race.

We were given our lane numbers and we walked out on the blistering hot red track and I thought, “ This is going to be one hot race”. I glanced up in the stands and they were jammed pack with people for polvolt, high jump, and racewalk, there were so m any people in the stands. As we stepped on the track and lined up ready to race, I tuned out everything around me waiting for the commands “on your marks” I got ready “get set” “crack”, the gun went off. And off we went fast as a lighting bolt jostling each other for a place at first. As I started out in first I was trying to get a lead on everybody but that didn’t last long only about a minute only 200 meters. Then coming up on my right came a girl from south Texas walking club passed me she was going crazy fast. I looked up at the stadium and it was all a blur to me, bobbing up and down same as my head. I looked at the 400-meter track and saw that the girl who passed me was tacking a huge lead on me and another girl was rushing up behind me. The second girl from south Texas walking club rushed by me as I tried to go faster. I had a mindset and ignored everything around except for the race. As I raced I whiffed in all the fast food in the crowds, greasy hotdogs, hamburgers, and popcorn. The fumes made me feel like throwing up. I was going as fast as I could when the third girl from south Texas walking club came flying past me and I could not keep up with her. With 3½ laps to go I was getting behind I was in sixth place. The crowds were as silent as a stampeding herd of rhinoceros. Sweat of perspiration was pouring down my face with the blazing hot sun staring down at us. My light brown hair was in a sloppy pigtail and there were 2 laps to go. I’m still in sixth place; top eight gets on the podium and gets a medal to represent top racewalkeres in the country. I had one and a half laps left and a girl with a red uniform came up behind me and I was too tired to fight her off for long so I was in 7th place and trying to keep my spot for the podium. With one lap left I was trying to go as fast as I could so I could keep my spot and get on the podium. With one lap to go I started going as fast as I could so I could keep my place for the podium. I tried to go as fast as I could and as I rounded the last turn and hit the straight away I had a burst of adrenaline and finished my race with a bang with a time of 20:07 and in a wonderful place of 7th.

As I staggered off the track to give my name and track team and to get some water I looked up in the crowd and I saw my parents and saw my parents, my sister, my brother, my grandparents, and my 5 year old cousin waving and smiling at me, I smiled a weak smile and waved back. When I got my water I had gulp fulls and gulp fulls of water, I was so parched and dehydrated. As I sat down and watching impatiently for my competitors to finish the race so I could get my medal and get something to eat I noticed how exhausted and tiered they looked. After everybody finished we waited impatiently for the results for whom to got on the podium. Finally an official came and read out the list of the top 8 finishers and told us to come with her, we were going to the podium. The crowd of course was still as silent as elephants watching the next race. We waited and waited back stage and finally we were taken to the podium. We walked onto the podium and I was second to get my medal. The medal was a big shiny bronze hexagon that was twice the size off a normal medal and brought a huge smile to my face. As soon as I got off the podium I was embraced by my family who then let me pick out a t-shirt and were I wanted to go to eat. I was no longer nervous just really happy.