Today, I ran in a race on an athletics track, not a school one. There were lots of other runners there, and everyone looked ready and focused. I felt a mix of nerves and excitement as we all lined up at the starting line. I wanted to do my best and run as fast as I could.

When the race began, I set off quickly and tried to stay close to the front. The athletics track was smooth and flat, which helped me run well. Some runners were very fast, but I didn’t let that worry me. I just kept going and focused on my own pace.

Today, I took part in the junior Parkrun at Pitshanger Park. I hadn’t run there for a few weeks because I’ve been focusing on athletics events instead. This weekend, though, there were no athletics races on, so I thought it would be a good chance to return to Parkrun and give the 2K run a go. My personal best at this course is 6 minutes and 58 seconds, and my target today was to finish somewhere around 7 minutes.

I started the run quite fast and quickly made my way to the front. At the top of the straight, I managed to take the lead. I felt strong and tried to keep up my speed as much as I could. When I reached the end of the first lap, I checked the time and saw that I had run it in 3 minutes and 30 seconds. That was actually about 10 seconds faster than I had planned, so I knew I was on for a good time if I could just keep going.

Today I ran in the Moulton Summer Open in the 800-metre race for the under 13 age group. This was only my second 800m race of the season, so I was feeling both excited and a bit nervous. My last 800m race didn’t get recorded on Power of 10, which made me quite disappointed. I really wanted this race to count, and I also wanted to beat my personal best from last year.

The day before the race, the weather had been very hot—up to 34 degrees! I was hoping it would be much cooler today. After school, we left home and drove to Moulton. We arrived just before 7pm. As soon as we got there, I started my warm-up. I jogged a bit, did some stretches, and made sure I was ready. I was placed in the second heat, which had some of the faster runners. My goal was to get a season’s best time and beat my 2:35 from a few weeks ago.

Today, I took part in an MYAL athletics fixture in Harrow. I was running in the 600 metre race, representing my club as our top points scorer. I felt really proud to be chosen for this role, and I wanted to do my best for the team. I had run this distance before, and I remembered that race clearly. I had led for most of it, but right at the end, another boy caught up with me and beat me on the line. That memory stayed with me, so this time, I was ready to give it everything I had.

The weather was hot, which made things harder, but I was focused. My personal best was 1 minute and 52 seconds, and I was hoping to beat it. As soon as the race started, the same boy from last time tried to race ahead with me. But I was stronger today. About 100 metres in, I managed to take the lead. Once I got in front, I told myself that I wasn’t going to give it up. I stayed calm but strong, and I kept pushing forward.