Memoirs of an Outstanding* Teen

Chapter 34: I Like You Even Better

I made it without any more injuries. Soon, it was 2013, and I found myself in a cab, going to my very first race at Harriers. It was cool and breezy when I stepped off the cab.

It turned out, I was a little earlier than I had to be, so right after confirming my name on the list and getting my shirt, I went ahead to stand by myself and wait for the race to begin. While waiting, I saw a man, also leaning against the wall, watching the people go by. I assumed he was the security guard.

I watched more people come up and gather to chat in circles. Some bothered to do some warm-up stretches. And eventually, the voice behind the megaphone announced that the 5k race was going to begin in 5 minutes. I left my spot, went up to my fellow people-watcher on the other wall, and asked, "Hey, can I leave my bag here with you?"

"Yeah just put it there."

"Okay, thanks. And do you know if we're all supposed to wear our race T-shirts for the race."

"You can put yours on if you want to. There's a bathroom right there to change in."

"Okay, thanks."

I put the shirt on and went on to the starting line. The gun went off, and the race began.

It must have been the adrenalin. Somehow, I ran faster during the race than I ever did on my practice runs. I capped it at 25 minutes for the 5k. On my speed runs during practice, I could never run faster than 30 minutes for a 5k.

I was happy about that, up until I went to the time-keeper and found out I wasn't even on the top ten. A personal best at least? And I didn't suck at it like the million other things I'm terrible at, right?

My performance was apparently enough to impress somebody, though. When I was getting my bag from my bag-keeper he asked, "Hey, do you train a lot?"

"Yeah, kind of. Like 5 days a week or so."

"Well, I'm a coach. I train people at a stadium up North. I can give you my number if you want to someone to help you train."

"Oh, okay sure." So, he wasn't a security guard after all! Could have fooled me. Harriers was mainly Afrikaans people I could never relate to anyway. And they made me pay 400 dollars every month. "If his training is free or at least cheaper I might as well..."

A few weeks later, I was walking around a stadium up north, looking for Coach Thomas. Have you ever gone to a place and immediately felt a sense of belonging even though you knew nobody there? That's how I felt walking around there. I saw people who were pushing themselves on the gravel track, even though they didn't have 5000 dollar Nike sneakers or the latest version of the Maxed 100 runner's tights. They were my kind of people, doing their best with the little they had. I found the coach, got the training times, and with a, "See you tomorrow" I left him looking forward to my next time at a stadium up north.