Runner Up!

Noise.

There is a lot of it. Around me, above me, beside me, coming from the blocks in the lane next to and behind me.

There is the crowd and it's mighty roar, the voices of all the people watching, drowning down into one voice that demands an exciting race.

There is also noise inside of me. It's quieter than everything else. The distant sound of my heartbeat filling up every single inch inside of my living body. I live and breathe it, and so does the crowd, spurring on the Run Run Run that is coursing through every fiber of my body that wants nothing more than to take off and fly.

But I control it. One beat for every three Runs. I have to keep it controlled. Get to excited, and I could flinch or go early and risk the fact of getting disqualified. I know that's not going to happen. Still. Being careful never killed anyone, did it?

I see the race.

All the lanes have a runner, but it's Cory Steele that my eyes focus on. She's in lane four. The runner's dream lane, or at least mine. But any sensible person would want it. You have the vantage point of being able to see the people in front of you, and at the curves, the two hundred marks, you can see the people behind you. You also don't have to be in the outside two lanes, where people in staggered starts have to constantly worry if they're fast enough so the people behind them won't catch up. In the inside two lines, you have to pump your legs and be able to pass people up, and it's tedious because it feels like you're farthest away from the finish line.

All in all, the fourth lane is the place to be.

And I envy her.

While she's in lane four, I'm in the lane beside her, in lane three. I'm back some feet. This is the 400-meter. It's a staggered start. She and I have raced every single 400 against each other since the fifth grade. She knows me. I know her. Cory likes red gushers, ice cold water, and is a long-distance and 400 runner. She has a crush on a boy named Gavin who goes to her school.

I feel it's important to know details like this.

She also likes to be the last one getting into her blocks. Cory watches over her shoulder as I adjust mine, slowly, just to annoy her, and make sure they're on fifteen to forty-five, before sliding onto them. Then she does her warm up, arm stretches, and steps into hers.

The moments before you run are crucial. The 400-meter is all about the mind. It's a mind game. You can't dead out sprint the whole thing. You'll lose. You can't do intervals the entire time, either. Focus on that to much and you will wear yourself down. And the last thing you do is look back, even to see if someone is gaining on you.

I gave up on having a set routine. The blocks are it. Then, it's just you and the wind and your fellow runners.

And the clouds.

That's how you win. You run with the clouds.

Today is bright, sunny, and windy, the gray poofs floating quick across the sky. Early on, I learned to secret of running. Become a cloud.

I look up at them for a split second. They let the wind carry them, go through them, whatever. They fly. And so will I.

The gun goes off. I jolt forward and shoot from my blocks. Spikes, steps, running, the noise. It all fades to that dull thud of my heart, and I listen to the sound of the beat. It sounds like the sound a cloud would make, passing over us.

I sprint the first strait. Easy 100-meter. Don't have to worry about the whole cloud thing just yet. That comes in handy at the end. By the first bend everyone's strides have widened and we are finding our rhythm. I pass one of the girls in front of me.

Run Run Run Run!

My arms are in. Flowing. Up and down. Helping me keep going. Keep going.

Run Run Run Run!

I breathe through my nose, then open to my mouth. It's controlled. Not panicked. Calm.

Run Run Run Run!

It's just Cory and I now. It's the 200-meter stretch. The crowd is going insane, wild, just like my speeding heart. My parents are screaming, my coach is screaming, my team is screaming, the crowd is screaming, and they're all roaring the same noise that fills me up. That fuels me.

"Run, Run, Run, Run!"

I tighten up next to Cory. She huffs out a breath and glances at me. I can see the precipitation on her face, a tear leaking down her cheek from nerves.

It's down to the grit of it. I push. She pushes. I dig. She digs. It's a battle, now. Between the two of us. But I have the weapon that she doesn't have. I know how to let myself go. There I feel the winds of change pouring through me, not around me, not pushing me along like most runners would like, but going through every inch of my being. My skin crawls, but in a good way.

That's where I break away from myself. I'm drifting. Floating. Flying. Soaring. Going up and up. Faster and faster.

Shoulder to shoulder, I give one last push and pull away from her, from everything. All the noise dies, and my eyes narrow at the finish line.

Thump thump thump.

Run Run Run Run!

In a flash, I dive over the finish line, seconds before her. The crowd jumps up and shouts, and I'm engulfed by teammates and rivals alike, slapping me on the back and lifting me up on their shoulders, towards the sky.

That's okay. I'm grinning, light weight, free, a painting streak of the sky.

I'm a cloud.