Taranaki Cross Country Champs

On Wednesday the 19th of September 2007 we had the taranaki cross country champs. 7 people went to it that came from our school. They were Angus, Justin, Kelly, Koren, Shane, Connie and I. First up was Angus and he came in about 63rd which was good for his first time running in the Taranaki Champs. Then it was the 10 year old girl’s race. Kelly and Connie were in this race. They were the tallest there by far so they were easy to see. When they started Kelly nearly tripped over some of the smaller kids in front of them. When they got to the end of the starting straight you couldn’t see them until the finish. When they came into the finishing arena they were going quite fast. They were in the top 20 and they stayed there until the finish line. Next up was the 10 year old boys’ race. Justin was in this race. There were heaps of kids in this race. When the gun went off Justin got a good start and was off. When they came into the finishing arena Justin was 22nd and there was a kid right in front of him and he was just about to get him before the finish line and the kid decided to sprint but Justin got him right before the finish line . Next was then we had no other people in the races until the 12 year old girls. Koren was in the race. She got a good start and ended up finishing 23rd. Next was my race and I was feeling nervous. Shane was in my race as well. When the gun was fired I sprinted down to the first gate and was sitting about third. At the 1km mark I was still sitting behind the leaders and letting them push all the air because it was a little windy. When it was 2km gone Mitchell Owen appeared and I knew who he was because he won it last year. I and the guy who was in second place followed him right to the arena but Mitchell went for a sprint way back from the finish and we couldn’t catch him. I still was behind the guy that was in second and I passed him 50 metres out from the finished to end up second. I got a cool silver medal. Makahu School did well that day and I encourage more people to go to the champs because it is a great experience for you.