It was a cold and windy day, the track team and I were at a meet. Everything was going well until it started to pour. The only shelter we had were two easy-ups for the entire team. No one was prepared for the madness that was soon to come. It was about ten o’clock in the morning and the rain continued to come down. The rain felt as cold as ice, as it was pelting us from all directions. As soon as I got under the easy-up i heard the announcer say “high jump has been cancelled due to the rain”. “This can't be happening!” as I turned to Dani, “that was the only event I was really good at...” Dani looked me with comforting eyes and said “don’t worry you still have your 200 to do”.

Pretty soon it was twelve o’clock, then one o’clock and the meet was still not cancelled. As the hours went by, it just got colder and colder, the wind blew so hard that the runners had to wait a half an hour for the wind to settle down.Its a good thing I wasn't carrying an umbrella because I felt like I was going to be swept away like Mary Poppins.In the mean time the rest of our poor team was huddled for warmth under our easy-ups. The people sitting higher up were getting their backs soaked as the tops of the easy-ups were overflowing with water. Nothing i could do at that moment could keep me warm. I was frozen solid. As I sit here I looked onto the field and watched all the people from different schools wondering around on the field. Some running for shelter, some relaxing under an umbrella, and some just sitting on the field getting more and more drenched. I can’t help but think about how ridiculous it was for someone to be sitting out on the soaking wet turf. I turned to look at dani and tell her about the people on the field, but as i turned all i could see were the faces of pure agony. I couldn’t feel any worse from here.

The rain slowly came down harder and harder big drops of rain covered every crevice of my sweatshirt. I heard the announcer calling out the order or events that were next to come “first call for the 100 meter dash, 1600 meters , 800 meter, 300 meter hurdles, and the 200 meter. Please report to the white tent to check in.” Finally! the 200 meters time to show people what I can do. The only bad part about this is that I have to take off my “warm” clothes in order to do my race. I waited as long as I could under our easy up before I went out into the pouring rain. Again I heard the announcer say “ third and final call for 300 meter hurdles and the 200 meter dash. I went out to the white tent and noticed that there were many other girls there as well, which only meant one thing.. Multiple heats. As the clerk of the course was calling out the names of who would go first I kept hoping it would be me. Of course not, as luck would have it I would be in the second heat. I wanted to curl up in a ball and die. We all headed over to the starting line and stripped off our sweatshirts and sweatpants, all that was left were our uniforms. Within seconds I was drenched, it was as if someone took a bucket of ice water and and dumped it on me. I went over to one of my teammates and asked if he could hold my clothes until I was finished with my race. His response was “sure, good luck out there don’t slip in a puddle. Well I mean we are on an all weather track so youll be fine!”. I looked over and the first heat had already gone! Everyone else was getting ready, I was crunched for time,” I am not going to get a good start, I am going to trip, what if I hurt myself! I am not ready.” Those were all the thoughts running through my head all at once. The starter was ready but I was not what am I going to do! The starter yelled “ runners on your mark!...Set!” “ Angelique breath!” I hear my teammate call as I was about to go. The gun went off, and we all started running I felt as though I was flying. I was numb, I didn’t know how I was running so fast. All I could think about was “the faster you run, the faster you get to get out of the rain.” I saw each of my teammates cheering me on at each side of the track, I heard one of them say “You’ve gotta want it, you’ve gotta want it!” I do want it! I want to win this race! The last of my energy was about to be used up when all of the sudden I heard the footsteps of my competitor right behind me. Suddenly I got a burst of energy and used all that I had to cross the finish line. I was almost certain I had lost. The timers and the camera people continued to look at the footage, when all of the sudden they came up to me and presented me with the first place medal. I won! I really won! The feeling of accomplishment swept through my body. Nothing else mattered at that moment.

When I got home that night, I replayed that moment before I fell asleep over, and over and over again. It was like I had an angel by my side, pushing me towards the finish line. “It was my sister” I thought “watching me from up above”. Always by my side, I closed my eyes to picture that race, and as I did my eyes stayed shut for the rest of the night. My sister will protect me forever and always.