My first marathon – B1 English Reading Test

My first marathon

The alarm went off at half-past four that morning. It was far too early to get up, and the idea of running 26 miles seemed impossible. (1)………… I pulled myself out of bed, showered and pulled on my running gear.

By six o’clock, I was at the Dodger Stadium, where the rest of my running group was already waiting. When they saw the look of terror on my face, they laughed kindly. This was clearly my first marathon. (2)………… When I realized that I was just one of them, I felt a little better. Helicopters hovered overhead ready to film us as we ran through the streets of Los Angeles, passing every major landmark until we reached the sea at Santa Monica. Suddenly, I felt very lucky and proud to be a part of it. (3)…………

As I began to run, I tried to ignore the aches in my body from eight months of training. Instead, I put one foot in front of the other and kept going. By mile five, my body was complaining, and by mile eight, my muscles were screaming at me.

(4)………… I was running alone now, but I was still running. By mile 12, I was ready to give up, and by mile 15, I was moving even more slowly. By mile 18, I was in my neighbourhood. (5)………… But by mile 22, there were only four miles to go. Spectators yelled encouragement at me as I ran past. ‘You can do it! Keep going!’

As the finish line came into sight, I started running faster and faster, and I crossed that line running. I grinned as the medal was placed over my head, and then I cried. I had done it. I had run my first marathon!

A   After eight months of training, this was going to be easy.

B   I slowed down, and the rest of my group moved away.

C   But I had trained for this, and I was going to do it.

D   There was no way I could finish the race now.

E   The horn blew to start the race.

F   I was very tempted to turn down my street and go home.

G   I was so glad that I had decided to do this.

H   Thousands of runners from all over the world were gathered for the race.