I have logged countless hours on the motocross track competing to finish first. All of my hard work eventually paid off when I won the main event at the last race of the season. This competitiveness has been both a challenge and a gift. It drives me to be the best that I possibly can in school, sports or just day to day life. I cannot settle for anything but perfection.
It was the last inning in our all-star game, and we were losing 10 to 8. Our team had 2 outs and we couldn’t get the third. Our pitcher was doing bad, throwing all balls, while all of us in the field were tired, ready to fall asleep at any moment. There goes another walk. They score again.
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”.
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.
Though the physical pain of running had never vanished, the sport eventually became more than a way of dealing with my past scars. When the coach resigned, I wanted and needed to keep the club afloat. Scheduling the meets, running the team practices, and motivating my fellow peers, I became responsible for the success or failure of the club. My ambition was to create and foster an environment in which my peers could also benefit from the discipline of track. As I took on this role, I realized it wasn’t so easy.
Yet, there is still one issue that I’ve always wondered about. One could say that my experience in cross country has been far from normal. One year, I was running a thirty-minute 5k, and ranked eighty-sixth on the team. The
Being a college athlete and balancing the daily commitment of practice along with school work, is not something that everyone can do. I 've been able to balance all this while excelling on the track, and more importantly, in the classroom. In July of 2015, I was honored for my excellence as a student-athlete, by being
move a from a recreational space to a more competitive and social space. I began to do road races and the challenge was a nice personal accomplishment with loads of fringe benefits. As I got older it became therapeutic on numerous levels. I later found that it became a solitary practice that allowed me to connect to God. What I noticed long before “Black Girls Run,” was that I was planting a seed just by being my authentic self.
Parents and coaches yell at you to push harder. Everyone around you is hurting too, it's just a matter of who loves the pain more; who pushes harder to finish faster. After I hit the finish-line, I realize why I run. I love the competitiveness, the adrenaline, and above all, the feeling I get when I finish. So what exactly has this painful, insane sport taught me?
Reporters, flocking around me, all my eyes could see were the staggering number of camera flashes and the reporters repeatedly asking the same question, “Hicham, how did you manage to smash the last world record by nearly 20 seconds?” Still being out of breath from the race my lungs could not manage to gather the air needed to answer the question that required a long explanation. Soon after, one of my coaches grabbed me what seemed like my 10th water, my brain descended from the notorious runner's high after taking a long sip of water. Knowing the reporter’s apprehension, I started explaining to the various reporters what exactly happened during the historic race I ran a mere 10 minutes ago. As I spoke all of the reporters from the many news stations leaned their microphones in so they could all hear what exactly happened during the historic 1-mile race starting the race in the middle of the pack was my original plan which my body carried out throughout the beginning of the race.
I never realized how hard it was to run like that. During workouts, I would be last or close to last finishing. I got very frustrated, digging my feet into the track, trying, pushing myself as far as I could go. But instead of getting better, I felt like I was getting worse. Then seeing the older kids pass me by easily just ignited a spark inside me.
I have had tough hope once, I had to move to a different state and start to get used to the new place. Moving was hard and took a long time to move everything to our new house. My new house was hard to get used to because it was different and I wasn 't used to it which made it hard to sleep and I had to leave my friends behind and I would have to find new friends. Making new friends was hard because I would be alone until I found new friends and I would have no one to talk to so I would be very quiet. Usually I would always be talking to a friend and I am only social with friends.
I had no idea how to pace myself, I did not even run at practice, and I put other sports over cross country at the time. Over the years, I have learned how to do all of that and more. Choosing to run cross country has been one of the best decisions I have ever made. In my second year, I started showing growth.
“Thinking isn’t agreeing or disagreeing. That’s voting.” Voting directly impacts the lives of those that do vote and even the lives of those that don’t. An example of which could be considered to be the 2015 federal elections. Despite some vouching for the conservatives many did not bother to go out and vote.
It was quite Monday in spring, a normal day but for me and my team it was a big day. It was the day we started training for the important race; the race decide which track team was the best in the city. My teammates are, George, Aron and Dylan. We have been working hard because we lost the championship last year it would be good for us to come out this year and win the championship.
