Why does Squeaky in "Raymond's Run" pretend she is in the country?

In the story, Squeaky loves to run, and she thinks that she's the "fastest thing on two feet." During the May Day celebration race, she tries to pretend that she's in the country. However, her imagination falls short, and she comes to realize that, no matter how much she tries, "even grass in the city feels hard as sidewalk, and there’s just no pretending you are anywhere but in a “concrete jungle...”
However, the main reason Squeaky pretends is because her happiest memories from her childhood consist of "running through the fields of corn and chugging up the hill to the orchard." These happy memories of the countryside are a great inspiration to her at the beginning of every race. When her thoughts center on the countryside and on her "kissing the leaves of the trees" as she flies in the sky, Squeaky begins to feel as light as a feather. This feeling puts her in the right mindset by the time she puts her fingers "over the Get on Your Mark" words on the ground.
When the pistol goes off, Squeaky already has her momentum, and she is powering off the start line as if she is as weightless as the feather in her daydream. So, Squeaky pretends that she's in the country because it is a great inspiration to her at the beginning of every race.