“10 puppies! You’ve got 10 puppies! You’re doing great!” shouted my dad. As I surged down the hill, passing 2 girls, I thought to myself, “You’ve got this. This is what you have been training for. Don’t give up now”. Before the district cross country race had begun, I had come up with a code for my dad to use to let me know my position in the race without alerting the girls around me. The number of puppies he shouted corresponded to the number of girls I was ahead of that were also on track to qualify for state. The other code word was “horse” for if I had to catch some of the other girls, but he never had to use it. As I pushed up the final hill with all of my strength, though I was physically exhausted and I could barely breathe, I felt amazing. Crossing the finish line was one of the best moments of my life. I finished that race in 23rd place. The top 30 girls qualified for state. Since my sophomore year district race, I had believed that I wasn’t talented enough to qualify for state. Our class and district were the most competitive in the state and the competition only grew each year. At the end of my junior year, I placed 73rd in districts. So how did I go from 73rd to 23rd in one year? I could say hard work or determination, which were certainly true, but I think it’s much more complicated than that. I came from a small team, but I had a coach that believed in me and trained with me daily. I had a change in my confidence and my pre-race anxiety faded away. I had a dream, and I fought hard for it. Chasing my dream of qualifying for state was not easy mentally or physically. I started running at the age of 10, and I was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome at the age of 14. IBS has been one of my biggest challenges because it causes unpredictable stomach pain when I exercise. I have been prescribed medication to help with the pain, but it doesn't make the pain go away. As a middle schooler, my teammates often found me crying in the bathroom after races because I felt like a failure. I knew I could perform better if I wasn’t in pain. In the beginning, high school didn’t get much better, and my mental health deteriorated. I have questioned quitting several times throughout my running career, but something inside me has always told me that I couldn’t, and I’m so glad that I didn’t. What I love about running is that it doesn’t matter who you are or how good you are at it. Hard work pays off and you can see it in your times. I run when I’m happy, I run when I’m sad, and I run when I don’t feel like running because I know that it will pay off down the line. My senior year cross country season taught me a lot about myself. It taught me that I am not a quitter, that I fight for what I want, and it gave me a lot of confidence in myself. I can do hard things. As I look back at everything I have put myself through in running, it brings me joy to know that I never gave up on myself and I’m not finished yet. The struggles that I have faced have made the victories that much greater.