When I was in 7th grade, one of my friends said that they were going to run track. I thought that was super cool. I knew that I was fast, so I wanted to do it too. With some negotiating from my parents, I joined the Junior High Track team.

My first year went by without anything too noteworthy. I got better and faster, and I really enjoyed the sport. In my second year, though, I became top Dog. As 8th graders, we were the best (at least in our minds). During that year, I set season records for the team in both the 100 and 200-meter sprints. Despite that level of speed, I was meant to run an entirely different race.

As the season went on, my coach compared my and another boy's times in our sprints to the other teams in our area. Though we were both fast, it wouldn't be fast enough to get us to finals in the district meet. He suggested that we look at training for the 400 meters. With a little endurance work, our speed could allow us to take home some medals.

So, I got to work. I ran the 400 for one of our meets and started to train with the longer-distance kids to increase my endurance. My first 400 time was 69 seconds. That seemed to me to be dirt slow, despite the all-out effort that I had put into my race. So, I trained harder, and it eventually paid off. I was able to break the 60-second barrier and take the third-place medal from our district meet.

Since then, I have set the Freshman record in the 400 meter for our school and have the number 4 time for a sophomore. Unfortunately, I was unable to run during my Junior year due to Covid-19. I presently have a PR of 53.83 seconds from my sophomore year and am looking to set the school record by the end of my senior season.

I decided to join the cross-country team at the start of my Sophomore year. I had enjoyed track for the past 3 years and had trained some with the longer distance runners at the end of my Freshman year. I enjoyed the people and the coaches and thought that I would give cross-country a try.

During that first year, I learned what pain truly was. It was running hills in the blistering heat until your legs and lungs gave out. It was racing in horrible wind against fierce competitors. It was running endless miles in an effort to get faster and better. But it was also knowing that you could have beat one more person, on or off the team, if only you had trained harder.

Despite that, it was also so fun to be able to run with some of the other guys. Especially during my senior year, there was a unique bond that I shared with several of the other runners. In many senses of the word, we were brothers. One runner that I formed a friendship with, though, wasn't on my team.

During my first-ever cross-country race, I met a Kid named Julian Alejo. He was from a rival team, and I met him with about a half-mile left to go in the race. He stuck with me for that last bit and helped me push through to the end, where I had a strong finish and beat him. I will always remember him and that race, not because I beat him, but because he was kind enough to help me when I had a need, even though he didn't know me.

As far as my actual racing goes, I was able to take off 5 minutes over 3 years. Though I had started out struggling, I worked hard and ended with a 5K time of 18:23. It goes to show that if you have a desire and put in the work, you can accomplish whatever you want to.