Day 108

Hello! This is Matt’s brother Mike, bringing you a recap of Day 108. The guys are at the CA-78 Border Patrol site, where they are getting ready to do another night run.

Last night the guys stayed at the Palo Verde Parks and Recreation Center. The town had campsites available and everyone was game. At first, the campsite was secluded. Later in the day, Generator City showed up to their chagrin. Temperatures were still very warm after sunset. The guys spent some of the night lying outside the tent, until mosquito’s started bothering them. The guys went back inside, saying that it was better to be warm, than constantly bit. The guys were able to turn in early, as they decided to get up at 4:00

Jose, Jose Jose Jose
Jose, Jose!

Sorry bout that. Jose Reyes just went yard as I write this, making the score of tonight’s game between the New York Baseball Club’s 11-2, in favor of the visiting Mets.

The guys did wake up at 4, broke camp down quickly and set out towards Glamis. Today would be spent entirely on CA-78. The guys wanted to get in as many miles possible, before the desert sun set in. The guys found the heat early today, which had them guzzling Gatorade by 9:00. This worried Matt, because it meant that they’d likely be depleting the “strategic reserve”.

The run continued without any trouble. However, they noticed that there were a few more hills than normal. The guys were informed during the day that there is not much in Glamis. They chewed on this information for awhile until they went around a bend and saw a big American flag. Intrigued, they approached a building and saw that it was a Border Patrol (BP) stop. This stop is actually 65 miles north of the Mexican Border.

The post was manned and the guys asked the BP Officer if they had any water. The Officer did them one better and gave them some Squinchers. Squinchers are an electrolyte powder that comes in a pouch. When you want one, you just add water. The guys called them “squishers”, an ode to Rick DeCarr. You likely know him as a frequent blogger and teammate of the guys.

At the BP, the guys asked if they’d be able to rest up a little while. They had traveled 23 miles at this point, and it was really getting hot. The guys were allowed to relax in a hanger where the BP inspects cars. They were told that there wouldn’t be any random inspections today, since there is a requirement where three Patrolmen must be present, which there were not. The guys were allowed to wave the cars through, being monitored by the BP guys, of course.

The guys were also able to set up camp and rest a couple hours during the day. Andy stated: “This is the hottest I’ve ever been in my life… but it’s gotta get done.” The guys called an audible and decided to cut off the run at 23 miles, and to start up again at dusk. When breaking down camp, Matt needed to roll up his Thermarest [mini air mattress] twice, because the first time, it had too much air to go into its bag. Andy asked Matt if today was Nationrun day 2. Matt told me that it was the first day of the trip where he had to roll the Thermarest twice, but he agreed that a light ribbing was in order.

The guys had a successful night run a couple days ago; this one figures to be longer though, 47 miles to Brawley, running from dusk till dawn. The guys are planning on taking a well-deserved rest day when they get into town.

Nation Forever!

-Mike Durkin

p.s.

The guys asked if “LeBrawn” beat the Celtics. Sadly, I had to tell them, he didn’t. They said they have this image of the Cleveland Cavaliers as a group of kids, who call on their older brother, LeBrawn, when they are getting beat by the other teams. This idea really isn’t far from the truth, as Bron scored nearly half of his team’s points, 45. It wasn’t enough though as Paul Pierce brought it with 41 of his own, leading his Celtics to a 97-92 victory.

p.p.s.
A tradition at Yankee Stadium is that after each home game, the song "New York, New York" is played over the loudspeakers; Frank Sinatra's version after a Yankees win, and Liza Minnelli's version after a loss. Liza played tonight, and I must say, it sounded niiice!