“Drive” by Jack Nagtzaam

By Jack Nagtzaam The Uplift alarm goes off beside my bed. I roll over thinking today must be a school day. As I roll over, I see my cross-country uniform on my desk. It then dawns upon me what day today is. I proceed to make eggs with a banana for breakfast. Afterwards, I brush my teeth and prepare things for the race such as water and my shoes. My mom and I leave the house at 4:30 a.m.

Upon arriving at BI, my mom wishes me luck and I thank her as we go our separate ways for the day. As I walk over to the rest of my team, I notice the weather is chilly yet humid. I greet my close friends and, soon after we board the bus, we depart for the invitational. I notice myself nodding off as the bus falls silent and its movement rocks me to sleep. Once we get there Aidan, one of my best friends, whom I convinced to join the team with me this year, nudges me, so I wake up. The first thing I hear is coach Bob's voice telling the boys in the back of the bus to grab the gear for the team and for JV girls to get off the bus first, because they will be the first one’s racing. I grab my bag and follow my team off the bus to where we decide to set up our team’s canopy tent amongst other teams around us. I realize I have some time to kill, because I will be running in the very last race at the invitational which is at 12:00 a.m., and it is currently 7:30 a.m. The BI Cross-Country Team lays its things down on the tarp under our team's canopy tent and heads over to the walk-through. I walk alongside Aidan and Calvin, some of my best mates on the cross-country team. We joke quite a bit as we examine the course, yet we have a suspicion that this race is going to be one hell of a hard run. There is close to no flat terrain with hills at every corner and section of the course including huge puddles on the trail. We are also surrounded by dense forest and open fields throughout the course. Finishing the walk through, we all sit in the shade to wait until the JV girls run by us so that we can cheer them on.

Halfway until my race starts Aidan and Calvin have just run theirs. They inform me that there is in fact a huge part of the course we did not walk through and that there is a hill on that part of the course that happened to be about 40 degrees in arc. I thank them for the heads-up because I know that if I did not find out about this until I ran that part of the course, I would likely be discouraged from performing at my best.

I go to use the restroom. I am lucky that there is toilet paper left. Remaining runners who have not yet run who need to use the restroom happen to be in a very bad situation having to use things such as the roll in the porta potty or who knows what else. I count myself lucky. I jog over to the start line and find Joe, one of the best runners on the team to be one of the first people by the start line warming up. I join him alongside the rest of the B runners including Sergio who is the fastest amongst us, James who is a very strong runner, Kieran one of the strongest on the team, Riley another very strong runner, and Travis who has recently come off a bad leg injury but has been recovering and doing well. We warm up and then run out into the center of the field near where we will start the race and get in a group huddle. One of the seniors leads us in our traditional pre-race chant which is the Direction of Intention. While still in the huddle we chant, “BI XC, BI XC, BI XC!” Then we start yelling like men heading into battle while jumping up and down in our circle. Following the chant, the JV boys run to the starting line. By this time the other B Varsity teams have lined up at the starting line. My adrenaline is high. I feel my heart throbbing as I remain motionless ready to sprint. I do the sign of the trinity and tuck my golden necklace under my tank top.

The announcer standing to the side announces, “on your mark; get set!” The announcer then shoots the gun into the air. My instincts kick in, I sprint out with my team and runners from other teams in front, behind, and aside me. I start to slow down into my pace before the majority of those that surround me do and I then realize I may have run out too hard in the beginning of the race. I hope that this won't hurt me in the long run, I think to myself. I fall into the group of runners running at my pace. I keep up with them for a good first half of the race. Leaving the open grass trail in the beaming sun, surrounded by high grass and bushes, I follow the trail into the forest. I pass a couple of runners on the opposing teams. I am now in a league of my own. Heading out of the woods I notice there is no one behind me or in front of me for as far as I can see. The sun beats down on me, yet I persist to the next section of the course called Roller Coaster Hills.

This part of the course is quite self-explanatory. The very last hill on this roller coaster is the one I dread the most. I trudge up the hill with all my might as my team cheers me on. I hear coach Bob yell, “One more mile; Jack you got this!” Two kids pass me on the hill. I then pass one of them leading to the end of the trail. Then I use the rest of my energy to sprint to the finish line. I pass six people. Turning a sharp corner for the short distance of the race remaining I elbow a kid to run by him. I pass one more person but the kid I elbowed passes me right before I finished the race. I am out of breath and commend the opposing racer who outran me in the sprint to the finish line by giving him a fist bump and saying that he was tough. Soon following me is Travis and the remaining racers.

While I walk back to the canopy with Aidan, one of the many people who cheered me on at the end of the race, I reflect upon the race. I don’t run hard and push myself to run faster for medals. I don’t push myself to improve as a runner for the sensation of a runner's high. I push myself to run harder because I strive to be the best I can be. In sixth grade, when I first started running, I could barely run around my block, which is less than a mile, without stopping. Now I can run a 5k in twenty-one minutes. David Goggins, a formal Navy Seal, inspires me, and I try to live by one of his sayings, “don’t be motivated, be driven.” As I’ve learned and have been told, motivation comes and goes. However, if you are driven, nothing will stand in your path.