16 Super Tricky

Our school bus passed signs for horseback riding, cross-country skiing and camping. Finally we pulled into the parking lot of Cloverfield Park.

“Do we have to race the horses?” I asked the kid next to me.

He looked at me with wrinkled eyebrows. People were doing that a lot lately, I realized. I guess if you have to explain your jokes, they are not funny.

“Walk calmly and line up once you get onto the grass,” our teacher said. “There are hundreds of kids here. You have your instructions. Don’t get lost!”

It was hard to hear her over all of the shouting and laughing. Our bus pulled in next to eight others from schools across the city. More buses were waiting behind ours. I scanned the few faces and buses I could see, looking for the bus from Parker’s school. After I’d heard about the race, I’d slipped a flyer inside her shoe at parkour practice.

On the front was the registration form for School of Hard Knocks, the Ottawa Junior High School Obstacle Course Race. On the back I wrote, See you at the finish line. I was pretty sure she’d accept my challenge, especially after we spent Saturday on the movie set.

Our teacher led us to bleachers set up near the start-finish line. My division — for fourteen- and fifteen-year-old boys — was last. It meant I could watch the other kids before running. I climbed the bleachers. Grey clouds had been dropping light rain almost all morning, so I had to be careful. But I wanted to be high enough to see as much as I could and plan my strategy.

The course seemed straightforward. I knew right away my parkour would help. It started with a simple wall. All I needed was enough speed and room. I’d be able to speed vault over it without much trouble. There were some steps on each side. I bet they would be crowded. I planned to stay in the middle to avoid the crowds.

Next was a camouflage net. I would have to crawl on my belly under it. I thought about our beast walks. I hoped my wrist was healed enough.

From there, it was hard to see anything. I could see two A-frame climbing walls, but not in detail. The cross-country running course snaked its way through some trees and bushes. I could only imagine what was waiting for us inside them.

I stood to look at the course behind the bleachers when I spotted a familiar face. Staring up at me was Jayden. He was smirking. I smiled and waved politely. I knew we were about the same age, so I would get my chance to see him up close during the race.

It was an hour before I had to leave for the warm-up area. But all that time I was able to watch and listen. The other schools’ kids swirled and whirled around me like birds collecting seeds. They chattered about how heavy the hay bales were to carry. They shared ideas on how to get over the monkey bars. They discussed the best way to crawl under the cargo net. I took it all in.

Sure, this was all just for fun. But I really wanted to win. Especially after seeing Jayden.

The organizers led us in some warm-ups. Then the crowd of boys and girls in my racing group funnelled to the starting area. It felt like we were walking into a gladiator arena. Fences, signs and flags forced us in one direction. There was no turning back. The sun had just started to come out from behind the clouds. Suddenly, everything felt too close, too tight. Boys jostled for space. We lined up six across and maybe ten rows deep. Shoulders bumped easily with nowhere else to turn.

Someone cracked a bad joke: “Mooo. Welcome to the farm!” I was glad it wasn’t me, because nobody laughed.

The girls were grouped ahead of us. Just before they started, I spotted Parker. She was too far away and there were too many people between us for me to wish her good luck. I memorized her orange T-shirt and knew I’d see her after the race.

Finally, it was our turn. I ran through in my mind what I knew of the course. I decided there was no point trying to get out first. It was a long race — the fastest time so far was twenty-eight minutes or so. There would be plenty of time to catch the leaders. I had to pace myself. I had to be smart about the obstacles.

The horn sounded. We were off and running. Jayden and his buddies bolted like race horses for the first obstacle. I let a few keeners skip ahead of me. I wanted my space to vault the wall.

Just like I had guessed, most kids ran for the steps. The middle was wide open. So I took the space, placed my hands on top of the wall and kicked my legs over. I must have passed twelve kids that way. They were all crowded in a line waiting for the stairs. Some of them looked at me as if to say, I didn’t know we could do it that way!

Next were yellow plastic tunnels snaking along the ground. After that, off to the right, were hay bales. It was another great chance to use some parkour and gain some time. I chose the tunnel farthest to the right. I wanted to have the best route to the bales.

The tunnels were coiled together. My hands and knees didn’t enjoy skimming over the edges. My wrists hurt a little from the hard plastic. I’d already caught up to one of Jayden’s buddies, though. He was one who had been sprinting from the start. I guess he didn’t have the endurance after all.

It was slow, following him through the tunnel. I managed to get some room around him, even though it seemed like he was trying hard to nudge me off the course. I took two big steps ahead and he couldn’t follow.

The hay bales were the perfect size. I put both hands ahead of me and pounced. My legs swung underneath and I vaulted past another few competitors. That obstacle was made for the Kong vault.

“Whoa! Awesome!” someone shouted behind me.

That gave me a burst of confidence. I kept running.