The whistle blew. We started running. Tim tripped, Franco tripped over Tim and I tripped over Franco, starting a domino effect and I thought “well, what a start.”

“Back to the start line!” yelled the teacher. Cross country practice was going badly.

We returned to the start. The whistle blew again. Nobody tripped. Tim was leading, with Franco on his heels. I was third, just behind Franco. I saw the finish line and accelerated, overtaking Franco. I was gaining on Tim, but too slowly.

Suddenly, Tim tripped over again. I overtook him and crossed the finish line. I had won!