Double starting

The starters say it before every race and they phrase it in almost the exact same way, but the athletes tend to gloss right over it and ignore it. What is it that the starters say, you ask? They recite this well-known and simple testament: "If you hear the gun go off a second time, it means that someone has either false started or fallen within the first 100 meters. If you hear the gun shot, please turn around and we will restart." This sentiment is heard often, but many athletes don't pay much attention to it because it is such a rare thing. I for one had never had to restart a race before, though of course I have seen it happen, and every time I see it, I think, "Awe that has to suck!” I had never actually experienced double starting before, that is until my meet last Tuesday, the meet otherwise known as "The Meet of the Triple Start". 

I lined up for the 1500 and everything was normal. I had the nerves going and was anxiously jumping up and down in an attempt to stay warm and calm myself. All the competitors were all lined up and ready to go, the starter pulled out his gun, he said the magic words, he pointed his gun at the air, and a tiny puff of air resulted. The starter had forgotten to reload his gun. He laughed about it, but we athletes were all a little on edge in anticipation of competition. We smiled and tensely went back to the waterfall line and waited to start again.

For the second time the starter said the magic words, put his gun up in the air, and the gun went off. We didn’t get far though until the gun went off again. This had never happened to me before, but I was well instructed on what to do, so I stopped right away and turned around with the rest of the girls. I looked toward the starting line and I saw that my teammate racing in this heat with me was lying on the floor in the infield! I ran toward her and tried to reach her, but she was surrounded by the other girls who had gotten to her first. She had been accidentally spiked and pushed over, so she was alright, but a little shaken up. 

In the end we both finished the race and everything was fine, but it was such a weird feeling to start the race three times. However, as soon as the race started, the fact that I had already started the race slipped my mind and it just seemed as if you had done an extra stride. The race felt normal while I was competing, there was just something in the back of my mind the whole time telling me that something was slightly off!