The Running Dream

Race day arrives, and Jessica finds herself anxious to start the race. Surrounded by many runners milling about the starting chute, Gavin and Jessica take in the atmosphere around them. Rosa, dressed warmly, is excitingly waiting in her wheelchair with her race bib, while Jessica admires her own race number and timing chip, feeling that it makes her an official race runner. As Team Rosa sets up and gets ready to celebrate, Jessica and Rosa see an unexpected person approaching them: Ms. Rucker, their math teacher. Wearing a “Team Rosa” shirt, Ms. Rucker shatters the girls’ assumptions about her. Jessica notes that her teacher is wearing high-quality running gear and a serious running watch. When Jessica thanks Ms. Rucker for wearing the team shirt, the teacher responds with, “Run strong” (330), a mantra Jessica decides to adopt for the race.

With the support of their fellow runners, Jessica and Rosa move up toward the starting line. The race begins.

With Gavin running alongside them, the girls start out the race in high spirits. Jessica’s family and coach are at the starting line cheering them on, and other spectators call out to Rosa as they pass. Jessica knows they are starting out at a faster pace but thinks that is fine as miles one and two are downhill. But she finds herself holding her nine-thirty-per-mile pace even after they’ve passed the early part of the race.

As they enter the middle part of the race, they begin to run through farmland, and the crowds are sparse. At the four-mile mark, Jessica is startled to feel tired out, but her teammates are on hand to give her some Gatorade and power gels for energy. Shocked to find that she has been holding a ten-thirty pace, Jessica tells her team they need to slow it down. She is relieved when they reach the halfway point of the course.

Mile six has other track teammates there to offer sustenance, and as Jessica works through her fuzzy mindset, she thinks of the remaining four miles as to be taken one at a time, bit by bit, until they are all connected. She realizes that is how she got through the accident, the loss of her leg, and the long recovery process. Then, as she approaches the seventh mile, Jessica sees the cemetery where Lucy Sanders is buried. She is overwhelmingly grateful that she can run these last few miles, as they are “a distance between me and victory, and not days between me and tragedy” (338). Jessica calls out to Lucy that she misses her, and her teammates echo that sentiment.

As they emerge back into suburbia, more people are there to support them. Delighted, Rosa proclaims that “This is the best day of my life!” (338). Exhausted and in pain, Jessica draws strength from the crowds as she approaches mile eight. By mile nine, she is fighting various aches and pains and a wicked hot spot on her leg stump. However, she perseveres, knowing that she is “living step to step” (340).

The crowds begin to chant Rosa’s name and shout out to Jessica. The girls see the balloon arch indicating the finish line, and Jessica hears Rosa’s exultant voice. Then they are across the line and surrounded by family, friends, and strangers congratulating them on their success. But as she heads over to the post-race breakfast, Jessica reflects on what she has accomplished in eight months’ time, and now understands what Rosa meant about the finish line and the starting line being the same place. She has ended one chapter of her life, one race, and now she has a new one to begin.