::Whoa...how time flies.. I put my head into my books for a while and when I pulled it out again, I saw May. o.o We have past a third of the year and are nearing the halfway mark guys.
Anyways, one of the most beautiful things happend a few weeks back and I just did not have the time to blog about it. It was the story of the underdogs. The seemingly David versus Goliath story. The culturally diverse and refined gentlemen beating the savage beasts =p at athletics~~ hehe.. It was actually called the 12x200 event of the Combined Sports Meet.
Probably one of the most meaningful and relevant event at the sports meet is the 12x200m. 12 people from the same class must compete with other classes in what is a marathon battle of spirit, physical ability as well as team camaraderie. Sadly, so many people see it as a hopeless event to contest with the rewards not worth the troubles. Only four teams appeared representing the whole population of sec3 and sec4. If anyone feel getting 12 classmates together is troublesome, I can assure you the rewards you may reap is much greater.
Despite achieving a less-than-impressive result the year before, our class came together to draw up a list of runners 3 weeks before the actual race itself. Many volunteered for the race, it was a pity we had to turn some away. Still chaos erupted on competition day itself. Scheduled at 4pm despite dismissal at 1.30pm, a significant chunk of the team was awol on that afternoon itself. We had to have 12 people to register as acceptable team, everyone was frantic to locate the orignial runners. Even when we could not find the last few runners, those that came to support did not hesitate to pull on a pe attire in case they were needed. A wonderful show of class spirit eh? =d Our continuous effort to locate the runners paid off: two were dragged from their beds to the school track, another took leave from his AEP teacher.
So the race was on! Of the four teams, our team and last year B div champion were the favourites for the gold. Outside our team, the defending Bdiv champ were the clear favourites. They were the sports class of Ortus afterall, with numerous members of TnF and other sports ep3. Expectedly, a huge gap of near 50m were established from the start by the defending champ, who put in a string of strong sprinters from the start. Although it was accepted that they would lead, our runners were visibly stressed after seeing them have such a significant lead. Then the cracks in their team began to show. After pushing so many sprinters in front, they were roughly out of strong runners as the race proceeded to its midpoint. Our runners started to see hope and fought even harder as they continued chasing the frontrunner.
Soon it was down to the 10th runner. Our last four runners were our strongest. And it was a pleasure to watch us catch up bit by bit on the leading runner, which was from the defending champ. I was the 12th and last runner. As I watched my team mate intensely as he inched himself ever closer towards the leading runner, I pep talked myself up for a run that can mean so much for so many people. The distance between us and them was not nearly as big as before, probably only a few strides length. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the lead runner run past and pass the baton to their final runner. I strained my eye on the outstreched baton from my incoming teammate and grabbed it out of his hand.
I turned and locked my eyes on their runner who was still a few meters in front of me. Besides him, nothing mattered. For the class I had to catch him. Forget that I have not trained for nearly a month due to my sickness. Forget that I was out of the hospital for only two weeks. This 200m race is one that I cannot afford to lose. And soon I was upon him and it was still on the curve, a full 150m awaits me and him. I started feeling the strain on my body. I was not running smoothly and at that speed I could not maintain for the 200m. I decided to just follow him out of the curve and to run past him only on the straight. Meanwhile, I tried to calm my nerves to avoid exhaustion. Once we were on the straight 100m to the finishing line however, all sense has gone out of the window. A rapid few strides and I was past the first runner. The race was won, and I could not have been happier.
What followed was exuberant celebration among our teammates and a forlorn past champion who trodded around the finishing line, as if looking for some lost jewel. Congratulations all around, regardless of former animosity, the whole team was complimentary of each other. And who says boys cant hug o.O we had plenty of hugs that were going around that day. The sprinter from the other team showed good sportsmanship to come congratulate us as well. A 4L cheer followed, then a deserved 4K cheer, and finally a half-jest, half-unifying Ortus cheer. 'Star Runner' for a day, our victory also strengthened our lasting class spirit in our final year together in high school. If we were going our separate ways after high school, the scene that day would have been a good way to sign off in style.::

.:firestarter blogged on 5:12 PM:.
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