Personal Narrative Essay On Cross Country

Ever since I was little and even now, I have always loved sports that involve running, including track. In middle school when I was in seventh grade, I wanted to participate in track because I knew I would enjoy the sport. Track started in the spring during seventh grade, and the first couple of practices I thought were challenging because of what little practice I had before track had even started. From this point on, I knew I would have to work hard to reach the goals that I wanted to accomplish, and to even get personal records in running so that I could compete in sectional or even state meets that include top runners from every school. I had also kept in mind on what events I wanted to compete in, which were the one hundred meter dash,

One incident I can recount when I experienced failure was when I joined Cross Country. Since, I can remember I have always excelled at everything I did, from my academics to dance class to music lessons. When I entered into my freshman year of high school, I decided I would to join an athletic team in order to keep myself occupied outside of academics. I figured joining a sport would be another good attribute to add to my resume. Initially, my mind was set to join the soccer team. However, I found out there weren’t any openings available. The only team that had an opening was The Cross Country Team. I was terrified…my parents encouraged me to join as there wasn’t an option not to.

And we were off; All 13 of our runners and 55 of theirs exploding off the starting line and across the field. I was in front, I always was for about the first 100 yards, then a wave of runners passed me and I settled in to where I was supposed to be. The light rain hit my face and body as I pushed through the 3.1 mile course. Although I had no shot at winning, I hoped my teammates in front of me were giving it all they had, albeit they most likely weren’t doing much better. After settling into a rhythm, I started to battle with a runner near me.

I fell good enough to finish this race, as I rapidly pick up my pace. The finish line is so close, but so are the other runners. By now, I can hear all of the players booing at me. "I'm going to prove them wrong" I say as I run through the finish line. As the thin piece of paper tears, I'm overwhelmed.

During my final year of Cross Country around Regionals at Oglethorpe, I ran my final race for my high school career. Banks County was nearly number one in the State, the furthest we had ever ranked in history, and spirit and hopes for State Championship were high. I was nervous, like nobody’s business, I had messed up during my senior night because I was upset for my parents for not showing up and escorting me. And I was scared that I was going to do horribly. But as I ran, I realized that if I let my past mistakes and failures hold me back or get in my way, so I ran, harder and better than I ever had before and apparently even beat a “skinny kid”.

My participation in Cross Country over the past 4 years has influenced me greatly. Particularly in my senior year, it taught me how to work hard, bond with my teammates, and really appreciate the sport. It has influenced my career goals through possibly looking towards a health career, and has bonded me with my family by their support through the season.

With my relay team stretched,warmed up, and ready to go, we headed towards the stadium where we would race against the fastest girls in the nation. Intimidated but not deterred we headed out of Tent City and into the gates of Turner Stadium. Knowing this was my last race I would run with my close friends and relay team, being it 's the last race of the season and we all weren’t going to be in the same age group next year, I had a whole new mind set. I was constantly thinking, “we have to make top ten because we can make top ten.” “We have the times, we have the strength, we have the speed, we just need to have the guts to walk in there like we are going to shred the track into pieces.

I have not been able to participate in athletics nearly as much as I would have liked. I started running track in the spring of my seventh grade year. I performed surprisingly well and decided to participate in cross country the next fall. I spent the summer training and preparing for the season, and it definitely showed. I ran in the varsity race for my first cross country meet ever. I was an eighth grade girl who was running the same workouts as the junior and senior boys. My team won the conference meet and I won all conference honors. We went on to place second at the section meet, which earned us a place at the state meet. I earned all section honors myself and missed going to state as an individual by only a few places. At the state meet,

At my second mile, I was in 36th place and the coach had a worried face. At this point, I started to give up. I started coughing, had a runny nose, and was gasping for air. I finished the race in 36th place with a time of 19:44. I was exhausted and sad that the season was over, but I knew that I had one more season left to make it to

On a good day you 're mediocre, on a day like today, you 're horrific. That race, and the world-shattering heartbreak that followed, forever changed the way I saw running. I discovered that even hard work is not always invincible at the hands of fate.

Saturday seemed to drag on but finally it was show time. Walking into the arena was the most nerve-wracking moment of my life; the bleachers were packed and there were people with big cameras everywhere. It felt as though I was famous! As the announcer called my name the only thing I could think about was making a solid run. My run for the first round was good considering my heart was about to beat out of my chest.

All things in life can be enjoyable but also unexpected. Everyone has their own natural high. My natural high is riding my dirt bike. Even though riding my dirt bike is fun, it can also be very dangerous. It is very important to always wear safety gear while operating an off-road vehicle. Remember to always pay attention to the surroundings.

Rough Draft Cross country is probably the simplest sport anyone will ever play. All they need is a pair of sneakers and a water bottle. The team runs together, but also as individuals. Cross country is great because even though it is hard, it will help make runners stronger and better at other sports they play.

Speeding up At the beginning of the cross country season I hated cross country absolutely hated it, I would walk down the hallway of saline middle school look at all of the pictures on the wall and saw some of kids running and thought why is My mom doing this to me? I thought I was a terrible at it, I would run like a 9 or 10 minute mile. So when the school year came along I dreaded the end of the day I would look at the clock and think a tiny bit longer, please just a wee longer (and that is very very rare.) When the season began I had a lot of trouble, whether it was keeping up or if it was breathing problems, and My friend Zaske (who was and still is much faster than me) was nice enough that instead of going up with all the faster kids he stayed back with me, but even when he was going his slowest I still had trouble keeping up he would try to encourage me by saying “come on Michael just a little faster,” and I would respond with “i'm…

Even though we lost, that final moment that I jogged off the field, every one of my teammates smiled, and gave me a high five. As I gathered my things, I went over to my family. “You did an amazing job for your first time!” They all say in unison. Making it seem like it was rehearsed.