Make a race an important element of your story.

Posted in Narrative on Jan 26, 2024

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✍️ 44 stories

“A family race” by Ivan Vidaurreta

Submitted to Contest #235

When the starting gun rang out on the lonely racetrack, everyone in the crowd leapt like deer in the presence of a hunter. All except John, who with adrenaline pumping through his veins was running with the agility and speed of a wolf going after tender, juicy prey, ready to overtake the nearest of his competitors. He felt the blood rushing through him from head to toe. His heart raced in his chest, when he ran like that before that night, he felt like he was dying. The air was short of breath and his lungs burned as if he had burning coals...

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“The Bus” by Bob Harding

Submitted to Contest #235

Sandra looked back. This was the tenth time she’d glanced over her shoulder during the last mile. She tried to will the bus to slow down. A quarter mile behind her, it was still just a yellow blur, but it crept closer every time Sandra checked. Her watch beeped and she began to run. Well, she called it running anyway. It was more like a slow trot or, for those a bit more cruel, a fast walk. Sandra didn’t care what other runners thought. She just had to keep pushing forward. She started breathing harder. To her and anyone else wat...

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“Sky Fire: The Prehistoric Race” by Franco Lopez

Submitted to Contest #235

The annual Sky Fire ceremony is commencing soon, and all the clan riders have finally arrived after their arduous pilgrimage through the jungle to our capital village. This year’s race was blessed by the Sky Fire itself, marked with an unprecedented bright beacon of growing light that could be seen during the day beside the Sky Fire’s radiance and at night, shining brighter than our ancestors. The elders claim it is a good omen bringing fruitful blessings and fortune in the upcoming year. However, a ...

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“Race to the bottom” by James Moore

Submitted to Contest #235

Archibald Drakeford or Archie, as the few people who knew him well would call him, was sitting in his private jet, looking wistfully out of the window, the sun was hitting his pale, sunken cheeks and he felt a wave of positivity wash over. He watched thoughtfully as the sea turned to land and back to sea again, he could see all the life beneath him from this perspective, seagulls swooping, waves crashing, he even felt like he could sense all the creatures in the ocean living, eating, thinking, fighting for survival. 'What a thing life is' Ar...

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“Fifth Race” by Imogen Bird

Submitted to Contest #235

It's an age old adage, you don't need to be able to outrun the bear, you just need to outrun your companion. I had subscribed wholeheartedly to this idea, until it was my little brother falling behind me, slipping slowly into the jaws of hell.There aren't actually any bears in Rekilm, the beasts we run from are far more calculated and even more tenacious than any animal you can imagine. They proliferated from the Earth's day of reckoning hundreds of years ago. A rapture without the salvation for the faithful. The world is now past any kind o...

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“Two Better Than the Devil” by Aaron KC

Submitted to Contest #235

Have you ever run so far that your nipples bled through your shirt?Jogger’s nipple. Some call it red eleven or big Qs depending on how the blood looks dripping down your front. You're running for so long the fabric of your shirt gets damp with sweat and is just constantly rubbing and rubbing against your skin and your nipples chafe so badly that they start to bleed. The good runner's shops will have special tape you can put over your nips to protect them. You can usually find it between the ace bandages and the energy gels. Me, I just use go...

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“It Was a Two-Part Competition” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #235

It was a two-part competition. First of all, it was a mile race on the high school track. There were 16 teenage boys in the competition, representing different schools in the area. This was, of course, well known to the bulk of the audience that had gathered to watch the boys running. They were rooting for the boys that went to their school, named Hilton High School. Current and former students were there to cheer them on. Then there was a second competition, known only to two of the runners, both representing the s...

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“The Ultra” by Arlin Dixon

Submitted to Contest #235

It started with a letter. Sundays at the pub. The ultra-runner would sit beside the fireplace with his beans and chips and a glass of Guinness, still in his gear. I sat at the bar and watched him. Wishing I could be him. There was something about him that was so pure. So honest. He was a runner. It was in his blood. I ran too, but not like that. I did races where there were water tables set up and cheer stands throughout the route. Where an entry fee would get you a goody bag of pins and gels and a t-shirt with a reflective strip down the...

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“The Restoration of Evie” by Lisa Lange

Submitted to Contest #235

Evie pulled a strand of hair off the sweat on her forehead and drank from the water bottle. Her legs wobbled. Her feet burned. She felt ready to collapse in the fountain. She filled her mouth with M&M’s from the bag her dad handed her. “I did it!” she said, before swallowing. “I knew you would, Kiddo.” Her dad beamed. She was thirty-two. She’d be his kiddo at thirty-five, at forty. Or maybe, it was because she was single. They were all the family they had. Evie came up yesterday to run the 5k because her dad had gotten forty pledges, b...

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“Run, rabbit, run” by Mari AL

Submitted to Contest #235

****1) I hope you enjoy this twisted tale! 2) It starts slow but then...3)I tried my best to NOT make it too gory, so don't worry - it won't turn your stomach****"Run, rabbit, run," that's what I say every time I start chasing them. It’s a race between predator and prey. It’s a game I have perfected over the years, but it was here where it all started. It happened ten years ago, and even though I have had many other experiences since then, this is one of my fondest memories. Today I had some news that made me relive the whole event, in my he...

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“The Ten K” by Sam Newsome

Submitted to Contest #235

The Ten K “You’re going to do what!” “I’m going back to Ghana on my vacation.” Mike said this with more conviction than he actually felt, but it fell into the category of unfinished business. Two years ago, he was doing a Foreign Service internship in Ghana that nearly took his life. The embassy was being threatened by a menacing crowd when he suffered a nearly fatal neurologic event. He could not be more specific as the...

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“Above All Odds” by Michele Platz

Submitted to Contest #235

The streets were lined with spectators, all cheering, but all I could hear at this point was my own labored breathing. I’ve been training for this moment for years. The Olympic qualifying race. I had been running for the University of Oregon for four years and running for even longer. It was my release from life. I loved every tortured stride of it. My legs burned at every land of my long stride, almost 26.2 miles down, 100 yards to go and I had it! “You got this Alexis,” I muttered to myself. “You’ve worked most of your life for this moment...

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“The Marathon” by Deborah Alexander

Submitted to Contest #235

Sensitive content warning: mention of infertility and pregnancy loss. # The rhythmic sound of her shoes smacking the damp pavement drummed in her ears. Only 4 more miles. Her breathing was deep and steady, just as she had practiced. Running this half marathon has been easier than she thought. Soon I’ll be able to add that 13.1 sticker to my car. Training four days a week for the last six months has really paid off. Not to mention the diet. Lean protein, rice, veg...

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“The Race” by Michael Robinson

Submitted to Contest #235

As I walked onto the hippodrome in Antioch and its cheering crowds, I wondered how I let Acco talk me into this insane race. It was a week ago, I had just finished a race in Magna Leptis and was celebrating my victory in the local brothel. I sat in the waiting lounge, sipping the local vintage and waiting for Johanna, my evening choice, when Acco sat at the table. Acco was from Gaul, with black hair cropped close to his skull. He was a charioteer before becoming my agent, and he still had the athletic build of a racer...

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“Race to Rebel Creek” by Elijah Rose

Submitted to Contest #235

A horse was essential out here simply because how d***ed far everything was from everything else. Lieutenant Nathaniel James Beaty kicked up his horse to a brief trot to catch up with his companions. Despite the official rank given to him by the State of ________, he was actually a junior member of the group as this war party had no army to command. 22 officers and NCOs moving incognito across the scorching hot prairies into the far west i...

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Make a race an important element of your story.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 44 stories

“A family race” by Ivan Vidaurreta

“The Bus” by Bob Harding

“Sky Fire: The Prehistoric Race” by Franco Lopez

“Race to the bottom” by James Moore

“Fifth Race” by Imogen Bird

“Two Better Than the Devil” by Aaron KC

“It Was a Two-Part Competition” by John Steckley

“The Ultra” by Arlin Dixon

“The Restoration of Evie” by Lisa Lange

“Run, rabbit, run” by Mari AL

“The Ten K” by Sam Newsome

“Above All Odds” by Michele Platz

“The Marathon” by Deborah Alexander

“The Race” by Michael Robinson

“Race to Rebel Creek” by Elijah Rose

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with one or two characters going for a run.

Write a story in which a character is running away from something, literally or metaphorically.

Write about a character who suddenly cannot run anymore.

Write a story that includes someone saying, “You can’t run forever.”

Contest #235

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

312

Contest entries

121

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: