You don't need to worry about beating her if she's on the same team. If I were you, try and train at least 3 times a week and run the same distance and route every time and you will notice that every time you run the same distance and route, you get faster every time. As you keep getting faster personal bests, you should be getting closer to beating this girl, if that's what your aim is.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.