A tough run for John

With the marathon behind us, nobody's afraid of running trails and twisting an ankle anymore, so we were thrilled to get back to the fabulous network of trails at Carlisle's Great Brook Farm today!  

Not everyone, though, had a great run.  Poor John.  It was a tough day for this stalwart E Streeter.

Was it because he took a Hall of Fame tumble early in the run?  No, because he recovered so deftly with a barrel roll for the ages, I wasn't able to get it on film.

Was it because he was haunted by recurring tales of a 1995 five-miler when he was bested at the finish line

by a fitter, stronger, more talented runner?  No, not that either.

So what was the problem today?

It was the realization that parking at Great Brook during peak season brings with it a nominal parking fee.  Anyone who knows John knows this development would not yield a smiley face emoticon on John's Facebook page or twitter account.

Here's where he found out the news that the parking today came with a cost

Miles into the run, and John was still ranting to Scott about the fee

.

For our part, we couldn't help but laugh at John's plight

Susan  Scott tried desperately to distance himself from John's incessant gripes, sometimes running alone just for some peace and quiet

The rest of us just tried to run away as fast as we could, to enjoy the peaceful serenity of the trails, free of the daily grind of everyday life

Finally, we had to stop to let John join us, with a promise of no more tales of trails throughout the East Coast that don't come with parking fees.

But at the end of the day, there was no avoiding the reality:  it was time to cough up.  But, in typical John fashion, as he took out his First Communion money from his wallet and made the payment, he was rewarded with an errant quarter he found in the dispenser!  The day wasn't a total loss!  And there's no truth to the rumor that John turned around and sold his parking pass to an incoming parker for double what he paid for it.