Welcome to Jersey! Today was the last run ever on the night shift, and we could not be happier. It was also our first run in New Jersey, and I was surprised to find mine still somewhat rural. The start exchange point was relatively close to our hotel, awarding us a little extra sleep…woohoo!! I ran first and picked up from Team Orange in the parking lot of a bar in the middle of nowhere…literally. The bartender however, was around and enthused, and came out to support us there…and then again 10 miles down the road. It was great! Amazing to watch people pick up the BPR spirit! My run itself felt awesome. The area was surprisingly really nice, contradicting my NYU and NYC notion of Dirty Jersey. It was so pretty in fact that at one point a whole herd (is that the right term?) of deer actually frolicked across the road right in front of me! I just stopped in place…amazed and awed. Around the halfway point, a Road Closed barricade appeared. I was forced into the van, onto the highway, in detour, and eventually, a while later, redropped off on the opposite side of the barricade. Interesting break in the run, and made more interesting by the excellent company of the Night Pilots.

As my last night shift run ended, I passed off to Mary in an empty parking lot, with the bartender from the previous exchange point and his girlfriend as spectators and fans. Mary took off running, and we continued on our way, stopped shortly after by the bartender and girlfriend as we were passing a WaWa gas station. Holding a huge case of water, they explained they had stopped for gas, explained our story, and gotten all the water donated! How cool is that! We stickered and t-shirted them all up, and continued on to the next WaWa, coincidentally also an exchange point. We were so surprised to find the WaWa rivaling the Japanese 711s…amazing gas stations I tell you! Great for 4:30am runs!

The rest of the morning went by quick and fine. We were all in better moods from the previous day…more rested, and really as Dot would say, “smelling the barn”. Our last exchange point was more like a Welcome Home Dot Party. In Tom’s River, NJ, her high school hometown, a HUGE crowd of family and friends came out to support and run with her. It was really amazing how many of them there were. As she ran off, I hopped aboard with the Night Pilots, en route to the beach!!

We spent the rest of the day soaking up the sun on the Jersey shore at Asbury Park, a surprisingly really really cute beach spot. It was awesome, made even more awesome by CiCi, my most awesomest friend from nyc, coming down to hang out. An exchange point at 1:30pm broke up our sun session, and with it nearing the night pilots bed time, they left, and I was rejoined by Team Green’s Laura and driver Kevin (also known as Laurel’s brother).

Then the most amazing part of the day occurred. Looking for a spot for the big BPR van, we found one that in typical Jersey Shore fashion was a parallel parking spot. Kevin, from Vermont where apparently there are only 5 total parallel parking spots, freaked out a bit, and I volunteered my parking services. At first there was a skeptical response from everyone in the van, except from CiCi who actually affirmed my talent. I hopped into the front, with everyone outside scouting, and then somehow (I am still pretty amazed), backed it in, in one shot, without having to readjust. I should also add, to make it seem all the more impossible and me all the more amazing, the width of the road was only about 2x the van’s width and filled with parked cars on both sides…making it a very very tight squeeze. Anyways, after succeeding, taking the necessary pictures, and receiving the necessary shocked appreciation, we went back on our way.

Once we had all had our fill of sun and cancer, we ate a nice dinner in the quaint downtown, dropped CiCi at the train station, and went on our way to Fort Lee, NJ across from the GW Bridge and the location of our hotel. Driving up the turnpike past Exit 14, with the skyline in view, it really finally hit that we had made it the whole way. We’re back! Wow!