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Grade
8

    A walk. A walk in the woods. Yes, that’s what would calm him down. A walk in the woods with his dog, Jones. After hours of practice, working his body to the max, Brian needed a break. He would go to Vancouver the next day and get settled into the hotel room. He knew he could do some good workouts because it was summer, and was the first summer game held in Canada. After his walk, he would train some more, then go to bed. The whole country would be rooting for him and if he let them down, he would never forgive himself. As he thought quietly to himself, he became less aware of the surroundings. He then proceeded to trip on a obtrusive rock, fall and hit his knee, and knock his head on a branch.
    After a while, Brian woke up. Jones was gone, but he didn’t know who Jones was. He was dazed. Did he trip on a rock? Or did he hit head on a branch? Maybe both? He honestly had no idea. He at once tried to find his surroundings. Who was he? Where was he? On which continent? In which country? He was clueless to those questions and more. As he pulled himself up off the ground, he noticed that there was a large mountain range in the distance. He tried to think of a large mountain range he knew about, but could only come up with the Himalayas, and he didn’t think he was in Nepal. Maybe he was in Switzerland or France and was near the Alps. Although, there weren’t snow falls at all. After many minutes of thinking, he came upon the conclusion that he was near the Appalachian Mountains. Brian then proceeded to walk away from the sunset, or east, because that’s where all the big cities were. After what seemed like hours of walking, Brian came to a small outpost with a grocery store and train station. He bought a ticket to New York City. From there he took a bus to a hotel in New Jersey and settled down for the night. He was very thankful for the money he had in his pocket. He hoped he could find his house and find out who he really was.
    When he woke up in the morning, he got dressed and went downstairs. As he was getting into the elevator to go back up to his room, he noticed a newspaper called ‘The Tribune; with the title “Olympic Mile Runner Brian Holmes goes missing”. He noticed the description of the man as ‘A tall blonde man with a muscular build, high cheek bones, and blue eyes’. He knew that was what he looked like, but it couldn’t be him. After all, he couldn’t finish a mile, could he? He decided to look into it by calling up the newspaper agency.
    He dialed the phone number that was in yellow pages and was directed to a friendly sounding man who in turn directed him to the manager. The manager asked him if he was Brian Holmes. Brian replied with ‘I don’t know’. The manager was confused. How could someone not know there name? After many minutes of thinking, the manager asked Brian to come down to the office.
    The next day, Brian took a bus to a train station in Newark, and then a train to New York City. After following the managers directions to the headquarters word for word, Brian found himself looking up at a skyscraper with the words ‘The Tribune’. He went in and was directed to the top floor, where he met with the manager. The manager, upon seeing him, called the owner of The Tribune to tell him that they had found Brian Holmes. After recounting his story countless times to the manager and his coworkers, Brian had many questions. After asking his manager where he lived, and what his life story was, Brian knew what he had to do: Go back to his house, which was in Connecticut, in Greenwich, find his family, and start training.
    Once he got back to his house, he greeted his family. While he was at the Newspaper company, he learned that he had two children (named Nick and Kate) and a wife (named Josephine). He also learned that he loved them very much and was dedicated to their well-being, and he knew he would continue to do that. Brian hugged all of his family and then decided to find his coach.
    Brian learned that he was a mile runner and that he had been training his whole life. He also learned that he would be running in the Olympics for the first time in three days. The first thing he did when he learned that he was an athlete was to run. He surprised even himself with his speed. When he saw his coach, he knew he was for real. His coach had the wise look of a grandfather but obviously could run very fast, given his lean physique and strong thighs. Brian asked his coach what he should do to train. His coach replied buy getting out a piece of paper and showing it to Brian. It was a workout regiment from two days before. It was filled with phrases like “30 laps” and “100 reps”. Brian thought that if he was the regular human that he thought he was, he knew this would be crazy. But since, he wasn’t a regular human, he knew he accomplish each and every task with great care and ease. Brian started with 50 warmup laps and then 1000 squats. He finished both tasks in under 30 minutes combined. Brian then proceeded on to the bulk of the training: the mile. Brian had to run a mile in under 4:30, then rest for thirty seconds, and then run another mile in under 4:30, and then rest again. Brian finished 10 of those sets and finally, after 2 hours of working out, started sweating. Brian thought he could do another ten. He felt like he was immortal, a demigod, even super human. He then remembered that, in fact, he was human, and that every human gets injuries. To prevent them, Brian’s coach told him to stretch before and after each workout session. Brian did this and immediately felt better.
    Brian then went back to his house and ate some pasta, for the carbohydrates. Brian also had a green smoothie and some fruits and vegetables. Brian knew that he had to eat healthy if he wanted to stay in peak physical shape.
    The next day, Brian went to the airport to get on a plane to go to Vancouver. The flight was an all day day-er, and landed at 5. Although he was 5 days late, each athlete got one week to prepare for the Olympics, and some athletes came later so they could spend more time with their families. Brian quickly went to the hotel because he wanted to get one more workout session in before he had to sleep. Brian got to the grounds, finished his workout, and went back to his hotel room. Brian settled in for the night by reading a biography of Jesse Owens.
    He woke up at 6:30 and went down for a healthy breakfast in the hotel lobby. He then got changed into his workout gear and went back to the training grounds. He trained hard all day, only stopping occasionally for meals and water breaks. Brian got back to his hotel around 9 and continued to read the Jesse Jackson biography. He knew that if he kept his mind of the race tomorrow, he would be better off when it came time for him to run. Brian ended up falling asleep at 11:30.
    The next day, Brian got up early, waiting for his coach to tell him to come to the stadium. He was excited, yet nervous at the same time. He knew he would do okay, no matter what happened. All he focused on was staying collected. Expecting many fans, Brian brought along a pen and notepad for autograph seekers. He knew that there would be a large amount of security, so he knew he would be safe.
    Brian’s main focus was the race. He knew there would be some fierce competition, from countries as far away as Australia and as close as Jamaica. There was one standout competitor: Peter Brandenburg, a German runner. He was called the German Blitz because he was so fast. Brian knew he would have to stay mentally tough to beat him.
    When his coach told him to come, Brian started driving to the Olympic grounds. Brian was one of the last runners there. He was hurriedly rushed through the hordes of supporters from all over the world. Even though it was deafeningly loud, Brian couldn’t hear a thing, being so focused. Brian quickly got his gear on and made his way out onto the track. As he got into his starting block, a loud cheer erupted. Brian was lost in the amazing aura of the humongous stadium. He heard the “take your mark” call, and then the blast. He was off. Lap one of four. All he could think about was sprint, sprint, sprint. He wanted to get an early lead. At the end of lap one Brian was in first, and Peter Brandenburg was close behind in second.
    Brian knew the second lap was all about keeping pace, so Brian ran steadily. He was on track for a world record of 3:42.85 if he kept the same pace. He knew he could do better though.
    Brian started sprinting again at lap three. He was then on track for a 3:40.90, which would beat the world record by almost three seconds. Brian continued sprinting and didn’t look back. He knew that if he were to win the race and get the record, he would have to go full speed the whole last lap, so that was what he did. He ran as fast as he could. Later, he would be clocked in at a maximum speed of 27.5 miles per hour, or .5 off the world record. While he was rounding the last turn, Peter Brandenburg put on a burst of speed and surged past him. Brian couldn’t believe it. But he couldn’t stop and think. Brian gave a last push, for him, for his family, and for his country. The crowd cheered. It was a photo finish. Brian had beat Peter Brandenburg by one tenth of a second. His final time was 3:39.98. It was the first mile ever to be run in under 3 minutes and 40 seconds. Brian was relieved. All his hard work had payed off. He had won. He felt amazing. Above all odds, Brian had won the race after a near death experience. He thanked his coach, he thanked his family, he thanked his country. He loved them all dearly and would show his gratitude later. But he had one final question: where was Jones?