Blood, Tears, and Sweat

I took a shaky breath as I gazed around the stadium; thousands of people scrutinized my every move as they anticipated the start of the race, the carnage. On your marks. Crouching down slowly I kept my eyes locked onto the rubbery turf. Get set. My knees grazed the rough material of the track as I readied my position. GO! Hearing the blaring pop of the gun I pushed off of the starting block, arms in motion--hands opened, never close--as I pumped as much power as I can with the given momentum. Eyes momentarily blurred, form screwed, as I took a miscalculating step. Gasping for breath, barely managing to pass the baton, I fell clumsily on the track. We ended up second at the league championships for the 4x100m event.  Steve Prefontaine once stated "somebody may beat me, but they're really going to have to bleed to do it." I've had that engraved into my veins. In order to succeed, one must have the integrity and perseverance.

Roger Bannister, the one every runners want to be, hailed one of the greatest athletes in track history. The first man to ever break four minute barrier in a mile. I stood at the starting line; muscles taut, ankles red and blotchy with blisters, I smelled the freshly mowed lawn. Closing my eyes, I imagined what it would've been like to be in Roger Bannister's shoes. It'd be May 6, 1954 at Oxford's Iffley Road Track. I crouched in position as I imagined the play by play of that day; arms loosened when I imagined the telltale sign of the blaring gun. Ran like Roger Bannister did during his historic moment. Sweating profusely, I ran with utmost concentration through the spiking pain on my side. I felt the same wall Bannister went through, almost stopping my run. Going through with the pain, I pushed one last time as I broke through the figurative tape of the finish line. 

His world record of 3:59.4 only lasted over a month, but the symbolism of it has stayed and coursed through the veins of runners all over the world. Achieving something no other runners has achieved before him, Bannister has been the emblem of perseverance. Pushing through mental and physical barriers, Bannister ran with a clear-cutting goal: run with passion. The ultimate goal of every runners.