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 "...the teacher smiled and said "Class...we have officially ran across Ottawa." Cheers and screams of joy and success filled our class room." |
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Sophie Wagar, "Run Across Ottawa School Challenge"
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I was sitting in my desk, French class, and I looked at the clock; 20 minutes until the next class. The teacher put her things away. I wondered "Hey, we have 20 minutes until next class. Why are we putting our stuff away so soon?" The teacher smiled and explained: "We have been put to the test. This year, we were planning on doing a challenge. We want to, all together, with kilometres added up, run across Ottawa." I froze. I said to myself "I can't do this." But then I thought, if I told my mother, Linda Wagar, publisher of the Canadian Marathon Stories book, that our class would be put to the test to run across Ottawa, she would be so proud of me. Let me tell you: I'm a REAL computer freak. I am on the computer for hours, getting no air at all. If I ran across Ottawa with some help that would completely change my life. I changed my attitude and accepted the challenge. Some students in class said "We can't run across Ottawa! That's over a Marathon!" but I said "If you say you can, you can, if you say you can't, you're probably right, you can't." I would always borrow that line from Henry Ford, who is also the inventor of the Ford cars. We went outside, that cold autumn day, and into the outfield. The field court was about 400 meters long. Calculate: 1000 meters was 1 kilometre, right? So to do 1 kilometre, I had to run around the court two and half times. Each day, I would run 4 1/2 turns. Calculate that. Two and a half turns=1 KM, and another two and a half would mean 2K. So everyday, I would run 2K. The rest of my class mates...well, some people were good at running, some of them weren't. So it varied...but these were the top runners in my class: Maxime, Almoustafa and Ted. Maxime, oh boy, he was the joker and a hard-core sport guy. In gym class, when we're playing any type of game, make sure Maxime doesn't get the ball or you're cooked. Almoustafa, it wouldn't surprise me. His origins are from the Kenya. You know most very fast athletes, they're mostly from this country. Everyday, I would run the same amount of turns: 4. It would be the same. The exact same. I wasn't changing pace AT ALL...until that is... I will remember that day. Always. It was September 27, 2007. Seventh grader, going out on the court again. Ready, set, go. Everyone took off on the pace, doing their turns. I ran, but I felt different. I ran...I wasn't as tired. In about no time at all, I finished a quarter of a turn. I looked at my watch in disbelief. I would sometimes time myself. I did a quarter of a huge turn and it didn't even take 40 seconds...shocked, I just continued to run. Some of the students in class stopped and stared at me. I would have stared as well if it wasn't ME running. I slowed down, not wanting to get attention. I went on a light jog, but making sure I didn't go too fast. But...then I thought I had visions. I thought of my mother’s book. She dedicated it to the fastest female runner that completed 5K in less than 15 minutes, Emilie Mondor, and my Canadian hero that ran across Canada for Cancer research, Terry Fox. They were both right next to me, cheering me on, saying to run like I was before, and to keep going. I couldn't do that...I didn't want to look strange...Maxime, being the usual teasing person, ran past by me saying "Slow girl!" Did he just call me a SLOW GIRL? Oh, yeah, I was fired up all right. Me, being a story writer myself, having a lot of imagination to create characters, saw a blue and yellow wolf in front of me saying "GET HIM." And I did. I ran like I never did before. I ignored the people staring at me and RAN. I eventually caught up with Maxime. I can't believe I caught up with him. No one usually can. Then I said "Slow boy!" and dashed on, completing the turn before him. I felt as if I crossed the finish line like a hero. I smiled and even started to laugh. I slowed my pace. I let Maxime pass by me. I didn't care anymore. But I completed the first turn before he did. Wow. Am I awesome or what? I walked for a few minutes, then ran, walked, ran, walked, ran, and continued the sequence. When I finished, I did 6 turns. 6 TURNS I SAY. I couldn't believe it. I said "Hey, is this some special day where the minutes run slow or something?" But it wasn't. I ran 6 turns. Two months later, we counted up the kilometres. The teacher went to the map...we were silent...the teacher smiled and said "Class...we officially ran across Ottawa." Cheers and screams of joy and success filled our class room. I, usually not being the party type, completely changed and went crazy. "We did it! We ran across Ottawa!" the students cried. Everyone was happy. However, I was the happiest of all. I completed something that I thought I would never achieve... At supper time, at home, when my parents asked me how my day was, I smiled, waited for my brother, Justin, to listen as well and said "Mom, Dad, Justin...I ran across Ottawa." I ran across Ottawa, with help, and I made it...I did something I thought I could never do...I may still be a couch potato, but when Justin says "You've never accomplished anything outside!" I say "I've ran across Ottawa, Justin...Can you do it as well?" I have little problem trying to run 400 meters now...I have little problem trying to run like crazy to my bus stop when I'm really late, I have little problem running away from Maxime in gym class...It felt good. At home, I may be a couch potato, but find a way to drag me outside, and I'll run as fast as I can. People can change... "If you say you can, you can..." Andy and Michelle actually had to beat someone else to earn their age-group awards!
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