I saw people slipping on the loose gravel below them as I fought past my exhausted body.  Rocks were falling off the edge of the loose path when kids sprinted across it.   Each aching step I took sent more hot sweat down my puffed red face.   I heard mud squelching under me as I slipped down the squshy path.  I could hear myself panting after every tiring step I took up the dreaded steep hills.  There was booming cheering voices from the seats as kids sprinted past for the finish line flags.  I felt the burning hot sun on my sweaty overwhelmed body as I gasped through my dry mouth.  The stones were wedging into my sore feet when I pushed up the steep hill.   I could feel my painful body getting exhausted through the flat and wide field.   I wondered if my whole body would fall to bits while running up the steep stoney pathway.   Would I trip and do a full faceplant on the slippery downhill path.   I thought I would make it to the final bit and complete this dreadful race.