Sports Day on the Unley Oval was idyllic. Beautiful flowers bloomed with colour, birds sang in the distance and the sun shone down on the freshly mowed grass. What more could we want?

For the first time in almost 2 years, proud parents, grandparents, friends and family flocked to watch the annual event take place. All of Unley Primary School slowly gathered in front of the grandstands. It was time to begin.

As the music blasted out into the distance, the health hustle started. A sea of red, yellow and green people jumped up and began moving left, right, backwards and forwards, warming up their muscles for the big day ahead.

Then came the deafening sound of exhilarated students, singing their team chant. The house captains provided words of encouragement and supportive speeches. Today was a day for fun, teamwork and school spirit.

A word on the long run

Lethargic, I wheezed, taking every breath as if it were my last. My heart’s personal pageant boy rapidly beat his drums as my arms cut through the warm summer’s wind. Finally crossing my first and final lap of the oval, I collected my racing mind into uniform order, craving – no – requiring a cool glass of water.

My heart, beating like a drum. I’m only on my second lap and my endurance is running low. I finally make it, my second lap completed. I ask the teacher how much time is left, she says 3 minutes. I take a second to regather my thoughts and I believe I can go again.

Our thoughts on the sprints

The side lines came alive with whoops of delight and encouragement. The sprints had begun. Eagerly watching the track, parents craned their necks forward to catch a glimpse of the action. We sat in our house teams, eyes fixed on the finish line, waiting in suspense. We sang our chants, yelled our team names, cheered for each other and hoped our team would be victorious.

The beaming glare of the radiant sun nearly blinded me. The voice of Mr O’Connor echoed in my empty mind. “Ready, set, GO!” The powerful sound of the horn screamed into my ears but my body ignored this and my legs started pumping rapidly before I could think.

The crowds were screaming their chants. The competition was fierce and spectators were craning their necks to get a proper view of this race that ought to be explosive.

Adrenaline rushed through my body. My hair began to sail in the wind and my legs moved faster and faster. I passed the enemy teams and my smile grew as the distant vision of the finish line became a clear image in my mind. Every second I saw faces and flags cheering us on. The finish line was so close I could smell the victory.

Then came the next line of runners, all fired up and ready to go. We positioned ourselves on the starting line: nervousness entered our heads and caused a false start. We walked back to the start line, Mr O’Connor chuckling to himself. The air horn sounded and we were off.

“No funny business”

The races seemed to go by in a flash. My friend, James, was tallying up the scores, just to make sure there was no funny business going on when it came time for the teachers to announce a winner. Wattle was ahead of us by about 40 points and we were winning the races by about twenty. Anything could happen at this stage.

Everyone knew the relay would decide it all. Our house captains in particular were on edge, they had been wanting for this all year and intended to win.

My mind flashed back to the trials for the relays. On that day, coming first in my heat, I felt like I was on top of the world. But now that the day had finally arrived and all eyes were on me, a wave of nausea swept over me. All the parents’ expectant gazes overwhelmed me with a rush of fear. Our team was so close to victory, but if I didn’t finish it off, my team would never forgive me. Or so I felt.

“Honk!” blasted the airhorn, commencing the race. The racers leapt forward, trying their hardest to get to the finish line first.

Batons were passed on competitively as the children sprinted swiftly down the grass lane to give the baton to the next person. Everyone was cheering, waiting in suspense to see who would come first.

The excitement rose to a crescendo as the last runners crossed the finish line.