Cross Country Scenarios

Behind the scenes: Cross Country Put me on the start line. I have trained for this race all season and this is where I need to put all of that training into this race and run the best I have ever ran. The officials are letting us know basic rules that we have all heard about a million times, but all I can think about is the race. My legs shaking, freezing because of how cold it is, but all that is on my mind is this moment; this race that is one of the last times I will be running competitively in high school. The next 30 minutes is about to be full of struggle, grit, and mental and physical fatigue.
One official is walking along the start line making sure everyone is behind the start line. My anticipation is making me have a bottomless pit
There is less than ¾ of a mile left and I am not going to be passed by anyone trying to beat me. The guy running at the same pace as me starts sprinting forward to get away from me, but immediately I catch up to him and get in front moving my legs as fast as they will possibly move. Rounding the shed and running through the trail in the woods, I start thinking about how I would feel if on my last race I did not run a personal best, and my competitive nature and determination give me a “second wind” that let me forget about the pain, forget about the exhaustion; all my focus is on moving and giving everything I had right now. Out of the woods I come, hearing the crowds of people on both sides of the finish line cheering for all the runners. All of a sudden, something starts moving off to my left and getting in front of me, I realize it is the runner that has been running right behind me since the second mile. This runner was giving his final kick to the finish with about ¼ of a mile left in the race; this was shocking to me but I immediately follow his pace, knowing that he is not going to let me beat him easily; but that I was going to have to run faster than I ever have before to beat him. Both of us round the last turn in a full sprint to the finish line, everyone in the crowd starts cheering for one or the other. I sprint forward in immense pain, legs burning, shoulders exhausted, and can barely breath; I cross the finish line in self-victory. 20:42 was
I find a spot where no one was lying or sitting and collapse on the ground to try to get my breathing stabilized and my legs to stop aching as much. I was so happy with myself and how I ran, it was my best race I had ever ran but it was also the last. I started thinking about where I was before I started running cross country and everything that I had learned since then, the morning practices that were sometimes in freezing weather, the long runs where I would run 8 miles in the 90 degree weather, or the speed workouts where I would sprint a ½ mile full speed. But through all the pain and hard work, I never thought cross country would of made me realize that cross country is not just a bunch of kids running around through the woods, it is a family that works hard together through anything; whether it is running or not, my team is a