Gary stood at the starting line of the 400 meter dash event of the intergalactic games. On the staggered starting line ready to race him were some of the greatest athletes in the universe. This among other variables had him wondering what the hell he was doing there.In the other lanes stood other beings that differed greatly than those Gary had been accustomed to on earth. First there was a Tigon in the first lane. The mere size of the Tigon intimidated Gary. Tigons were extremely strong creature each having six legs which they also utilized as their arms. Gary was sure the Tigons would win the throwing events, hell they worked out with barbells the size of Gary’s house on earth.In the second lane to Gary’s left was the runner from Isisia. The Isisians were extremely tall by human standards. The Isisians usually stood at a height of seven feet five inches most of their great height coming from their extremely long and skinny legs. This particular Isisian was above average. He stood around seven foot seven and his legs were extremely muscular compared to many other of the Isisians that Gary had noticed at the games.All though things seemed as if Gary couldn’t get at any more of an disadvantage the thing that troubled him the most was in the lane to his right. There were three other creatures to his right. But only one posed any competition. It was not another creature with a great inhuman physical advantage over him as a matter of fact he was not even from another planet. It was Gary’s teammate from earth. His name was Octavius. Octavius was a six foot even muscular onyx skinned running machine. It was he who had won the gold medal at the last Olympics. Gary remembered it vividly, Octavius`s five seconds in front of him. Gary not being close enough to even grab one of Octavius`s locks that flowed gracefully behind him as he ran across the finish line.Since Gary had come in second he had earned a spot on the earth’s intergalactic team. He was amazed that he had made it this far. Hell he was amazed that he was able to run in college. In 3019 A.D. Gary had received a track scholarship to the University of Oregon. But before those years at the university Gary had not shown any potential in track in his early years of high school. It was not because he wasn’t fast enough it was because of what he was allergic to. Steroids were legalized in all athletic competitions in 2311 A.D. by the world athletic association so that the human species would have a chance against the more physically evolved creatures from other planets which earth had come in contact with in the last century. Gary attempted to use steroids during his freshman year of high school but soon found out he was allergic to them when his throat closed up and he had to be rushed to the hospital. Yet he kept at it staying on the track till 11 pm on some nights trying to get his times down. On his senior year he managed to earn all-state honors which led to the scholarship.Even in college he had to go above and beyond just to reach minimum standards athletically and even academically. He had never done well in school. His grades in high school had almost kept him from going to the university but he pulled them up enough to be admitted. Even in college he had to work at extremely hard and was able to pull out a few B`s even a few A`s. In collegiate levels steroids were used even more frequently than in high school so Gary had to put in extra effort to be better than his steroid injected competition. He ran his way up the track and field ranks until he found his self were he is now.Gary stood at the starting line holding his cross necklace (which had graced his neck since his freshman year) trying to ignore the butterflies in his stomach making continuous attempts to rip him open. He knew that hard work and perseverance had gotten him here. He squeezed the cross necklace that rested upon his neck. He looked up into the stadium press box at the saddest thing ever mistaken for a reporter in disgust. The reporter glared back at him.They had just landed on the planet Ridon for the games he thought to himself reminiscing. He and Octavius were exiting earth’s team space craft when they were approached by what appeared to be a Heroxian. He was extremely fat with rubbery scaly skin and short legs. He had no neck which Gary found comical. “My name is Neb I’m a reporter from the planet Herox“he said when he had finally reached them. Even though he had short legs he stood equal in height to Gary. He wore a black pin stripe suit with a white shirt and pink necktie. “I hope you don’t mind if I ask you fellows a few questions” he continued. “sure” they responded in unison. Neb turned to Octavius. “You are going up against the best athletes in the universe, how do you expect to hold up?” He asked holding his pen and notepad ready. “well” said Octavius. “I’ll do what I always do, do my best and pray for the rest.” “Great” said Neb writing something down on the notepad. “That will be all, thank you”. He turned around and began walk away.“Wait” said Octavius grabbing Neb by his fat shoulder. “Aren’t you going to ask Gary some questions? “ Neb turned around and looked at Gary. He looked him up and down as if sizing him up. “Why?” he finally said “it’s obvious that he doesn’t stand a chance“. “What” Gary said looking angrily at Neb. “I’m simply telling things as they are” he continued. “You see we Heroxians don’t sugar coat things. We may be horrible athletes but we are some of the smartest beings in the universe. You see I’ve researched your species thoroughly and I’ve looked into the history of earths Olympics and I’ve found that ever sense you’ve allowed the first man from the Negroid breed named Jesse Owens to be in the Olympics their breed has dominated the games ever since. But as I turned through the pages of earth’s history I came across another interesting fact. The issue of how your breed of Caucasians treats the Negroid breed. First you enslave them and then afterwards you treat them like…. How do you humans say, o yeah, you treat them like crap”. At this time Octavius stepped in. “I think that’s enough, lets go Gary.”By this time Gary and Neb were standing face to face. Octavius grabbed Gary by the shoulder and pulled him past Neb who stood there and watched them walk away towards the stadium. “It doesn’t matter anyway neither of you stand a chance” Neb yelled at the two athletes. “The Isisian is going to whoop your water drinking carbon based asses.The thought of the interview fired him up. “What right did that walrus like loser Neb have to judge him?” Gary thought to himself. “Five minutes left till start” the official said threw the loudspeaker. He looked to his left and right and watched the various creatures stretching and knew that he didn’t stand a chance. “Why am I here?” he thought again. He held his cross tighter than ever before. He knew nothing else to do so he did the unthinkable. Gary got down on a knee and began to pray. The whole stadium watched him on his knees as if he was taking a piss. The athletes looked to their side watching him. They looked to Octavius as if they expected him to do something. Octavius looked down and watched his friend pray in front of thousands of creatures not knowing what to do. Then his next action came to his mind. He got down on his knee and prayed like his friend.“Thirty seconds runners to the line” the official said. The athletes approached the starting line and stood in their blocks. Gary could fell the butterflies more than he had ever felt them in his life. This was his single most important race ever. Then a warm uneasiness came upon him. He began to grin. “I’m not going to lose” he said to himself. “None of these guys have as much heart as me, they don’t stand a chance” He said looking at Neb through the corner of his eye. “Runners to your mark” the official yelled. Gary grinned. “Get set” Gary got in the starting position. “Go”.The runners sprang from their blocks with a great force. The Isisian, Octaivius and the Tigon got and early lead. Gary caught up and passed the Tigon. He had run 100 meters when he was five feet behind Octavius. He closed the gap. His legs were moving like lightning. Octavius looked to his side and saw Gary as he passed him. The look of surprise that had inhabited Octavius`s face then turned to an encouraging grin. He had run 200 meters and the Isisian was ten feet in front of him. He felt like he could not go on any longer and he was already running at top speed. He reached deep inside himself into his heart which was already running beyond healthy capacity. His body began to move at a speed even he didn’t believe he could move in and still he went faster. He had run 300 meters with 100 left to go. The Isisian was 3 feet in front of him. Gary was turning red his lungs felt as if they had taken a betting. His chest heaving like a ballon. Second place was beyond what he ever thought he could achieve. But he wanted first. Octavius had managed to catch up with them all three of them were running neck in neck at the last 50 meters. Gary could see the finished line approaching. Octavius was a foot behind him and the Isisian was neck in neck. He could have slowed down and gotten a well earned third or maybe even second but he wanted first. His heart was beating at an unimaginable speed. Ten more meters Gary was red as a tomato his body dripping wet with sweat his chest felt as if it had ruptured. Five meters to go the Isisian had managed to get a small lead. Gary was in excruciating pain but he dived for the finish line.Gary lay on the track panting and spiting up blood. A voice came over the loud speaker “first place goes to Gary Mcroberts of Earth. Octavius who was exhausted from the race came to help him up. “Dude that was amazing” Ocatavius said pulling Gary to his feet. Gary was dizzy his legs were trembling and blood was dripping down from his lips. “Did I break the world record?” he asked barely able to lift his head. “Did you break the world record?” Octavius said as if not believing what he had heard. “Dude even I broke the world record you came close to breaking the universes record!” he said excitedly. Gary looked up in the press box and saw Neb staring down not believing what he had just seen. Gary smiled. “Dude I fell like shit” he said as the first aid team came running to him. “Well you’re looking at this the wrong way” Octavius said grinning. “At least you don’t have to run the 400 meter hurdles“.
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