Week Nine

The highlight of week nine was absolutely the physical challenge, the Yellow Brick Road (YBR). The YBR is a 6.2 mile or so run which includes about 2 1/2 miles of trails running through the Marine Corp Endurance Course (E Course).  We were divided into our normal sections (I'm in section 4) and driven by bus to the beginning of the E Course.  I had a blast as it was a lot of fun.  Several sections started around 9 am about 10 min apart.  This is done to keep people from having to wait too long in line for the obstacles.  My section was started dead last and it was almost 10 am before we began.  The E course is like a "goat trail" through the woods and was fun to run with section members.  The trail takes you up and down, across creeks and mud holes.  There are several obstacles set up along the way including a 12 foot wall, a couple of windows, and about six rope climbs. The cargo net that Jody Foster climbed in the opening scene of the movie "Silence of the Lambs" is near the end of the E course (parts of the movie were filmed there and on the FBI Academy Campus).  When you complete the E Course section of the run, you get back on Application Trail and run the 3 1/2 miles back to the FBI Academy.  There is one awful hill on the Application Trail that I have heard people refer to as "graduation hill". It is straight up and about 100 yards long. I heard a couple of people joke that we needed a rope to help get up that one too.  It wasn't quit that bad but I did walk most of the way up it to conserve my energy for the remaining 2 1/2 miles to the finish.  When I got to the finish line there were about 150 people standing in the road cheering me (and everyone else) on.  My main goals was to finish strong and not be the last person across the finish line.  I accomplished both goals.  The  coveted "Yellow Brick" is now mine for all times.  Yes, it was really that important to me.

Photo of me on one of the rope climbs, it was a lot steeper then it looks. 

My victory photo at the end!!!! 

There were several other things going on during week nine.  A group of about 30 of us attempted a trip to a Washington Nationals Baseball game.  We fought traffic, only to be informed that the game was officially rained out when we got there.  It rained sideways all the way there so it wasn't unexpected. I also signed up for a trip to see the Marine Corp Helicopter Unit responsible for flying the President around.  They were great, very hospitable. We got to look at the helicopters and even climb inside and look around.  

Classes are winding down now and a couple of mine are actually over.  Week Ten will only have two days of class work, Monday and Tuesday and the rest of the week we will be preparing for graduation which is at 10 am on Friday.  "Yellow Bricks" will be awarded on Wednesday morning (more about that later).  As far as course work goes, I have two tests left and one group presentation.  I still have one Fitness class left. We will do an exit test just like the one we did the first day of class.  We will be timed one last time on our mile run and the normal push-ups ect. I almost hate to see it end, but I am really ready to go home for good.