Morgan Campbell writes of his epic 100-metre battle in memoir 'My Fighting Family'

The following is an excerpt from CBC Senior Contributor Morgan Campball's new book, My Fighting Family:

When the starter called us to our marks, I quit all my fidgeting and the manic pre-race pacing that my teammates said made them nervous, stepped out in front of my blocks, and gazed the length of the straightaway. Lane four, my favourite, and not just because the middle of the track was reserved for the fastest people. It also lined up with a brown-and-beige trash can at the foot of a grassy berm, at the south end of the stadium at Etobicoke Centennial Park, so it made focusing on my own lane easy. Just run to the brown steel drum.

I breathed in deep, then exhaled, mindful of the time. Every sprinter wants to cross the line first but settle into the starting blocks last. The bigger the event, the longer people take. This race, at the Blue and Gold Classic on the first Wednesday in May 1995, mattered. We knew, because the meet took place at the stadium, not the lumpy gravel track behind somebody's high school, and because almost every school in Mississauga and Brampton sent a team. Any meet that big would probably include future Olympians and would definitely feature races, like this 100-metre final, that felt like title fights.

Next to me, in lane three, Boyd Barrett dawdled on his way to the blocks. In a few years, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers would draft him as a cornerback, a position you don't play as a pro unless you can fly. And on my right, in lane five, Elden Forskin ran through his pre-race ritual. Elden had serious wheels, too. He was the provincial champ in ninth grade and wasn't going to half-ass this final just because we were good friends. He'd probably run even faster just so he could talk trash next