The Race

It goes back to high school where all the football players were forced to participate in Track & Field during the offseason. No problem, me and Billy would go after school - I'd flirt with the girls and he'd practice his javelin form. This went on for most of the season, when one day, the track coach asked Billy if he wanted to run. Billy was hesitant at first, but decided to give it a try since the throwing events weren't going too well for him. As the story goes, Billy practiced and practiced all the time - running here, running there, running everywhere. However, meet after meet passed and Billy never got the chance to show his stuff. Until one day, the track coach told Billy he'd be running in the 800M that Tues. at Cougar High School. Oh, how happy this made Billy. He told EVERYONE to come, come see his glorious debut. And, come they did - the entire family and all of his friends ventured to Cougar High to see his race. Tuesday finally came and as each running event passed, the anticipation grew stronger. We all wanted to see Billy run. Finally, the moment of truth was upon us all. The 800M event was about to start. The first heat lined up, started and finished. The same for the second. At this time, we weren't sure what was going on with all of the heats...just a lot of runners in this event we presumed. So, when it finally got to the third one, we didn't know what to make of it and we didn't care 'cause it was Billy's turn! Now, what happened next is something you'd see in a movie or at least a scene Billy probably played in his head a thousand times. He walked up to the starting blocks and the crowd went crazy, crazy I tell you. I know he had a lot of friends and family present, but this was completely unexpected. Just as Billy began to raise his hand to acknowledge the cheering crowd, another lone racer hobbled on to the track and it became sobering clear that the cheer wasn't for Billy, it was for a "special" kid named Jimmy. To make matters worse, they were the only two runners in this event - Fast Legs Willy vs. Special Jimmy.

They both took their starting positions... silence... BANG - they were off. Just like any "predictable" feel-good-Hollywood-movie, the antagonist slipped out of the gate - and the main character took the lead. The weird part was I kinda felt bad about that kid slipping 'cause that was all Fast Legs Willy needed to dominate the race.

Don't worry, Special Jimmy finished the race and the crowd cheered him on every step of the way...while Willy did his best Hulk Hogan "Real American" routine for his friends and family. In the end, I guess both were winners that day.