~12.2 mi @ ~15.5 min/mi

"They have to catch us first!" say the women who run ahead as Gayatri, Barry, and Roadkill venture past construction signs warning "DANGER - Keep Out!" Adventure continues for a dozen miles, not to be stopped by mere "CAUTION" ribbon in Rock Creek Park.

"Is he strong? Listen, bud. He's got radioactive blood!" Roadkill renders a fragment of the Spiderman TV show theme song, as we take turns leading the way up hills, past leaf-blowers, over tree roots, across streets, around parked cars. The friendly-familiar McDonald's on River Road at the Capital Crescent Trail is an aid station. A whiskery gardener on Leland Street gets a salute.

"No, it's Fake Food!" Waiting for a light to change in Bethesda, we joke about the nearby "True Food Kitchen", much to the amusement of a lady nearby. "We've been bantering furiously for the past 9 miles!" we tell her. She says she wishes she could run with us. Maybe some day!

"Love makes everything disappear" and "Thank you for not thinking" read stickers on a bridge railing. Little girls sit atop huge horses that walk in sedate circles at Meadowbrook Stables. Rain politely waits until after we finish running and get coffee.

(trackfile) - ^z - 2018-12-25