Chapter 308: Hooray For Thomas

A buzz of excitement filled the air of Sodor. The Island was having its first marathon, and everyone was signing up for it. The engine drivers especially were excited.

"I'm taking Sir Topham Hatt to the finish line!" James said proudly.

"Pah!" Gordon sniffed. "I'm actually competing! I'll be in first, of course."

"Oh, I don't know!" Henry said teasingly. "I'm pretty fast myself."

"Whatever," Gordon scoffed. "Try all you want, I'll be the one wearing the gold medal on the podium."

Thomas, who was getting his engine ready nearby, was curious.

"A gold medal? I didn't think marathons gave those out."

"Not usually," Gordon responded, "But Sir Topham Hatt thought it would liven the atmosphere up a bit. Encourage some healthy competition and all that."

Gordon and Henry kept arguing about who would win, leaving Thomas alone with his thoughts.

"A gold medal, huh?" He thought to himself. "It'd be cool if I could win one of those. But I'm too busy with my own work to compete…"

The day of the event, Thomas was bringing spectators to the finish line when he stopped at a red signal. Bertie was nearby, picking up passengers.

"Hey Thomas, are you going to the finish line too?"

"Yep!"

"You wanna race?"

"I don't know Bertie, remember what happened last time?"

"We only got in trouble because we were racing at high speeds. As long as we don't go over the speed limit, we're good!"

Thomas thought for a minute before agreeing.

"Alright, you're on!"

"Great! We'll go once your signal turns green."

No sooner had Bertie said that did the signal drop, and the two took off. For a while, the two were neck and neck. But then the road left the railway, and they went their separate ways.

"I'll get you yet, Thomas! There's no hill this time."
"I don't need a hill to beat you, Bertie!"

As Thomas approached the next station, he was surprised to see Sir Topham Hatt waving a red flag.

"I've left the medals back at Knapford. Leave your train, James can take them with us. Could you please head back and collect them?"

"Of course, sir!"

Thomas quickly forgot about his race with Bertie and raced back to Knapford. The stationmaster was waiting with the medals, which Thomas quickly grabbed and rushed back. He got back just in time for the award ceremony.

"Thank you, Thomas! You are a really useful engine driver!"

He then turned around and placed the gold medal around Henry's neck, with a very disgruntled Gordon taking second.

The next morning, Thomas was surprised to see Bertie arriving with Sir Topham Hatt and the sports committee. Sir Topham Hatt stepped forward, a very special gold medal in his hand.

"Thomas, as a thank you for your quick acting saving the award ceremony, the committee and I want to present you this gold medal!"

Thomas could hardly believe it! He grinned from ear to ear as the medal was placed around his neck.

"Thank you, sir!" He said happily.

"But I still won the race!" said Bertie, and everyone laughed.

A/N: Phew! It only took me seven years and over 300 chapters, but I've finally finished the entire classic seasons. Thank you for all of your patience.

Now, ordinarily I'd start Season 8 next time. But the thing about the HiT Seasons is that, aside from a few really bad episodes, none of them are really that bad, they're just painfully boring to get through. So I'll be putting those off for a while. Instead, next time we'll catch back up with James and Molly, and after that we'll do something a little bit more…controversial.