I woke up this morning and I realized that today was the day of the big cross country race at the beach. We were going to go against Mar Vista and so far in the season they were undefeated. As I got ready to go to the race i couldn't help but notice the clouds outside, but i knew that rain or shine Castle Park was going to go against Mar Vista and that this race would be the decisive one in the season, for whoever lost this race would lose the chance to be called league champions.
As i got off the school bus i and went to the canape coach put up earlier i noticed the other team getting off their bus as well. I was so nervous because they were all really tall and lean. Coach then told the team not to worry about the other team and to just "run your race". Since i was captain of the team it was my responsibility to get everyone ready for the race. So, i told the team to go to the bathroom and to be back in a couple of minutes because the coach had a little strategy for us to run when the race started.
After the whole team
finished going to the bathroom coach told us the
strategy we were going to run and how to run it. The
strategy was basically,"run as a group at a certain pace and let Mar Vista runners start falling off one by one and just hold on to the pace
until the
finish." This
strategy was one that i really loathed because when we run as a team and i get weary, uncomfortable and i get tired faster but as
captain i had to suck it up and do it for the team. As coach told us to warm up and stretch it started sprinkling and i knew then that we would have to run in the rain.
As we
finished warming up and stretching we took off our sweats and put on our uniforms, which consisted of a tank top shirt and really short shorts, and right then we got a full blast of the wind and rain. It was like taking an ice cold shower. The seven varsity runners then went to the starting line so we could begin the race. Already waiting at the starting line was the top seven varsity of Mar Vista ready to go. Next thing i knew the official had already shot the gun and the race was on.
The Mar Vista v.s Castle Park cross country race was one i will never forget because it was in that race that we won by a point in the overall score.Once the race started it felt like the rain and wind was pushing you down. Me and my team were all very excited and tired after the race because now that we beat Mar Vista there were only a few other schools standing in our way to become the South Bay League Champions.
