Track Us Down

The winds whipped across my bare skin. Icy sleet stung my face, making my skin red with the darting ice that fell from the sky. My hair was wet across my face. Water ran down the back of my neck, and soaked my sweatshirt. I stood underneath the roof of the athletics shed outside the track. I huddled against the wall, my team and I rubbing our hands together, trying to get feeling back in our numb hands.



"All right girls, I need a couple of you up here, come on." Our coach called us up, one by one, lining us up, each in a different lane. "You have seven seconds to get from here to that red flag over there. Ready, set, go!" Girls pumped their legs, beating down the track. Their feet splashed in puddles on the track, spurting up, getting thier legs muddy.



"Next group, up to the white line." I stepped quickly behind the line. It felt colder will every ice particle that flew onto my face. "Now, go!" We flew off the surface of the track, straining our arms and legs to faster, just a little faster.



After my turn, I ran back to the shed, switching places with the first group, as they started on their second sprints. As I stood beside the shed, my body numb, but still shivering, I realized I loved this. I liked that we were out here, in the cold Northern Prairie winds, running, sprinting, strong. As I watched the pain in the girls' faces I discovered the real truth, we were one, running as one, but still separately, working to beat ourselves, our very best selves. Still, as their feet flew, and water and icy sleet fell down on them, us, we didn't stop. We were strong. We had the backs of the winds and the confetti of snow falling around us, above is, among us. We felt pain, and electric shocks of iciness, but we kept going. We are invincible. We cannot be beat. Just try us, I thought, just try to catch us.