New Student Runner - Submitted by Jiho
The morning before sunrise was freezing, and I had only worn
shorts and a short-sleeved shirt. I hopped in place, trying hard to warm myself
up from the piercing cold. It was dark, with a spooky, halloweenish feeling to
it. It was like a fairy tale, with the big monster of fog that enveloped us all
in the blinding, blurry mess of shadows. The beginning of the bus ride was like
a spooky roller coaster, with black darkness rushing toward us in a blur of who
knows what. I imagined the bus to be a warm, safe, cozy place from outside, but
when I got in, cold air rushed around the place, making me flinch or shiver
every few minutes. 
After a long hour of bus riding, we got to our location and
off the bus. As soon as we got off the bus, our first destination was the porta-potties.
When using them, you must not look down into that hole, you must not imagine
what you are sitting on, and you must plug your nose at all times. After
stretching, taking pictures, putting on our bibs, and using the porta potties,
we headed to the location of the start line. There were people everywhere. As
far as my vision could take me, all I could see were people with pink numbers
on their bellies, talking and dancing to the music. I don't know if this was
just me--but everything seemed so romantic. The sunlight peeked out from behind
the buildings; showering my vision and making it seem almost lovely, despite
the noise, the lasting smell of the porta-potties, and the music playing.
People danced to quite a few songs, and then the speaker blared. My heart
throbbed and I could see thousands of other people before me, behind me, around
me, all working towards more or less the same goal-the medals, the shirts, the
pride.
"3...2...1...BEEP BEEP," the speaker blared, and I
could feel my legs starting to move, and I could feel other people's presence
next to me, surrounding me, but my head was in the clouds, soaring, and
dreaming of my goal. The hill was steep. It didn't look like it from a
distance, but after running up for quite a while, your legs started to throb
and you could tell--it really was steep. The thing I hoped for most was to
enjoy the race, and to try my best. I can't expect myself go really fast and
finish it in less than an hour or so. All I hoped for was to plaster a smile on
my face, and really feel the moment, really feel what I was doing. I was
running a race. It may not have been the full marathon, or even the half
marathon, but I was running A RACE, and the joy of that kept me going. The two
signs of hope in the 10k: the water stations, and the finish line. Whenever you
see these little things, your heart leaps, as if to say, "YOU'VE DONE
IT" and those little accomplishments lead to pleasure. Yet, I wish I had
taken a picture of the water cups on the floor! There were so many, it feels
like the whole road was a trash can of people spitting water, pouring it on
their heads, and throwing leftover water with the cups on the floor. I felt
very sorry for the person who had to clean all those cups, and the people who
have houses on that street. The cups were also very good for stress. When you
squeeze them while running, it helps you go on, and to control the pain. While
I ran, my hands got very shaky, and I found it very hard to hold my phone, and
a banana slice. Even worse, the banana slice still had the peel on it, and I
tried to peel it. My fingers fumbled on the banana slice, and I eventually gave
up and swallowed the slice, peel and all.
Then, I could see the finish line. The crowds cheering us
on, telling us, "You've done well!" and "Just a little more
left!" These people standing on the side, though I don't know them by
name, helped me tremendously. I felt that they came to cheer us on, and we've
got to try our best, for them. To show them we're trying. To show them they’re
helping. When I saw the finish line, it was a grand sight. The electronic
billboard on the side told the time, and when we had crossed, Lily and Salma
and I, it was 1 hour 15 minutes, and 14 seconds. My heart lept, and I felt the
pain finally come to me, and the relief, and the joy. I DO run for joy. It
isn't just because I had no reason and just picked anything, but the joy after
you finish the race, I could jump and skip and dance. People stared, but I
didn't care, I was in my own happy world, a world full of joy, and pain.
"Without the dark, we'd never see the stars", from Stephenie Meyer.
There is no joy without pain. After the race, we took the buses back home. When
I looked at the students in the bus, I saw at least three people blinking their
eyes, dazed. The ride went by quickly, because my eyes kept closing, and I
couldn't keep myself awake. When we got off the bus, I took one more look at my
medal, and my shirt. Things to keep until I'm old, along with the memories of
running. Of joy.
This is my second time running the 10k at La Puente. I've got to admit, it was just as fun as the last one, but there were some differences. Last year I decided to run along with the fastest runner on our team. By the second loop, I felt really tired but kept on pushing myself to keep up with him. Near the end, I just gave up and walked the last bit.
This year was different because I decided to run at my own pace. I was a bit slow at first due to my leg feeling a bit weird. Soon, it got better and I was off running comfortably. I saw some really interesting and creative costumes, such as a man who looked like he was riding a horse and a zombie. In the end, it was fun indeed and I did enjoy it as much as I did last year.
