<br> The iPhone's GPS glitches and records an extra 0.2 miles when I cut through the MITRE-3 parking garage to pick up a towel from my car. Back from the MHT at Milepost 7 of Rock Creek Trail, where the morning began, Rebecca meets the trio and takes Barry under her wing for extra mileage, Stephanie stops so she can run more this afternoon, and I leap into the car to head for Donut King to procure a dozen you-know-what for the Starving Masses on the home front. Gayatri Datta, Rebecca Rosenberg, and Barry Smith plan to run this Thursday 4th of July morning from Candy Cane City at 7am, so about half an hour earlier I set out from home to meet them. To get to Vancouver, I was expecting to spend three and a half days -- if everything went perfectly, with no stopovers in grain depots in Saskatchewan -- as a stowaway inside a metal floored railcar. Then it's time to accelerate to make sure I get to the rendezvous on time.<br>
<br> OK, but that doesn't make it wrong! They can make your mat fall apart. And during the entire journey I only fall down once - yay! Make sure to wipe both sides down before you roll up your mat at the end of practice. Official results put me crossing the line in 8:34:44 - 125th out of 144 who make it within the cutoffs, sixth of nine age 60 or older. At Rock Creek we turn upstream, pause at Meadowbrook Stables for restroom visits, and then stop again to visit with Sonya and her cute son in the racing stroller, covered with netting to keep the bugs out. Back at Jones Mill Rd K&R return to Bethesda and Barry & I branch north, taking Susanna Ln back to Rock Creek Trail, climb Ireland Dr (a new route to Barry), and then head home. After a few minutes Rebecca and Barry appear, and we set off upstream, the direction I just came from.<br>
<br> After that scary scene the rest of the trek is comfortably ahead of the cutoffs, 25 minutes to the good at the halfway point and 40 minutes ahead by the finish. It makes the rocks slippery, but by this point I'm mostly walking anyway. Big puddles decorate the path, and a spooky muddy tunnel at one point is flooded to ankle depth. 0.2 miles relative to the Garmin GPS when we emerge from the Wisconsin Av tunnel and it reacquires the satellites. 6 miles. Nevertheless, relative humidity above 90% makes for a stressful, soppy trek. Brad went at least 9 miles off course and still finished the race. 20% of the course for me. Some yoga mats are more porous than others
