The spikes were nailed firmly to the ground, to get that much needed thrust. Ears were tuned finely to listen to the sound of the clapper. Of course the heart beat was little above the normal rates. Eyes focused on the track, one must agree that the track looks the best when seen from the set position from the fourth lane. Lips tightly closed after taking a deep breath. I knew that my first job is to be quick and explosive out of the start line. I can be neither early nor late. J
The starter made sure runners are in set position and there goes the starting gun. I knew that I got decent start and took-off at the right moment. I am well aware that TNT is in second lane from mine. Next 5 to 6 seconds were ecstatic, there seems to be no movement of the runners on either side of me. But my joy was short lived, I read somewhere that professional sprinters reach their maximum acceleration near the midpoint of the race and that was true with him. He over took me with great ease and looked invincible. Rest of the race was the period of maximum exertion for grabbing that coveted first place as I plunged toward my destination. I qualified for the semis finishing second. Still that was a wonderful feeling to lead the race for sometime with the fastest man of my college in the dash.
This memoir is a result of flashing back to my college days, while I was watching the IAAF Golden League last week in Ten Sports last week.J
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