Waking up in the early mornings to go out on the field to train and prepare myself to go on the track was a joy for me back in those days. Track & Field was the only sport I was ever in love with and it was, out of every sport I ever participated in that I was actually a natural at.
My first taste of the track was at my primary school sports day in grade 1. At 6 years old I wasn't exposed to the real intensity and competitiveness of the sport as at that time we mainly did sack races, lime and spoon races, math races and so son. As I got older my love began to grow, so did my desire to compete and to win every races I would be placed in.
I first started to represent my school at the age of 9 travelling to different track meets, building my catalog and gaining experience. During training my coach at the time realized I had a very quick reaction time (how fast you react to the starter's gun) which gave me an advantage over my peers and along with my natural speed was a very good combination. Soon I would become a popular figure at school and also at track meets.
Track & Field gave me the opportunity to meet some of the best talents the country had to offer, challenge them and on many occasions beat them. My favourite events were the 100m, 200m and the 4x100m. Because of my quick reaction time I was always subject to the first leg when running the 4x100m relays even if it was not my preferred leg. Despite not being able to run where I wanted I was always a team player and gave my all when competing.
Having established myself as a fast runner both at school and on the track circuits I took the opportunity to introduce a friend of mine which is still my friend to this day to the sport and help groom him and to develop his talent so that we could become teammates. Never had I thought that doing this would spark my greatest rivalry over the course of my career as an athlete. He would test me every chance he got, he used every tactic he could dig up to defeat me but at that time I was just too quick for him. This rivalry would continue into high school and would shift into his favour as I had dropped the sport for a while to try my skills at cricket , basketball and football.
Due to my decision to venture into other sports I was left behind in terms of further developing my talent at the next level. Regardless I would still participate in annual sports days and surprisingly I was still able to compete with my peers.
It was not until I was in grade 11 that i joined the track team after being frustrated with my cricket coach for not playing me enough. I settled into the track team and once more I was in love again..with track & field that is and i enjoyed every minute of it. One of my best performances was at the Western Championships running the first leg of the 4x100m. I totally blasted my opponents away easily sending my team across the finish line first.
Unfortunately that was to be my final season on the track as I suffered a gruesome injury which drastically affected my ability to run as fast as I normally would. The only regret I ever had was not being able to make the most of Track and Field.
I encourage everyone who has a talent to make the most of it and not let it go to waste.
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