I saw my parents and Connor screaming for me—Connor was the loudest, screaming “YOU ARE KATIE CLAYTON” and I ran faster. The crowd seemed pretty surprised to see anyone moving at faster than a slog at this point in the race and I got some extra cheers and “She looks so strong!”s that pushed me along. I hit the turnaround, got a quick glimpse of my competitor a ways back, and pushed even harder as I finished out the last three-quarters of a mile toward the finish. My parents were gone (I assumed they had headed to the finish line), but I spotted Connor in the same spot he had been in before. He wasn’t yelling anymore. This time, he just locked eyes with me and mouthed one word over the roar of the crowd: “Maintain.” I knew I had it.