Title: A Long Weekend at Camp
Author: red rooster dawn
Summary: The Admiral invites the staff to Camp Maplewood for a weekend of bonding. Harm and Mac have fun with their friends movements.
part eleven Keep on trucking
1630 Minutes
AJ got to the end of first obstacle. He felt good. He hadn't gone out too fast, yet he had made up time on Jennifer. He had seen her on the bridge when he got there. He felt like he could keep up the pace and make further gains.
He shimmied down the rope and took off running. He quicken the pace a little. He wanted to catch up to Jennifer before the swim. He knew he could pass her there, he was a much better swimmer.
1720 Minutes
Meg got across the bridge quickly. She like the idea that she could catch Bud if she hurried. She saw Bud getting back on the bridge as she passed him. What had he been doing.
She looked back to see where Kate was and was surprised to see that she had almost caught up to her. Was Kate that good or had she crossed the bridge slower than she thought? Whatever, she needed to keep going. The only way she was going to catch the others was to keep on running.
Mic got to the end of rope bridge. He thought he had done well and might be catching up to AJ. This was fun he thought. He wondered how everyone else was doing. He had made up a lot of ground on AJ, but could he keep it up.
1730 Minutes
Jason was the fourteenth person to start. He knew it wasn't going to be easy to catch Gunny. He had a three minute head start. He thought back to his high school days when his coach told him he had to stay in contact.
If he did, then he could catch the next runner before the end. He needed to sight the Colonel. If he did sooner or later she would catch Gunny and then he would too. When he turned the corner he saw her shimmying down the ropes. God is she good.
He quickly scaled the cargo net and made his way across the bridge. Contact! He had to maintain contact with the Colonel. It was the only way he was going to catch Gunny.
After Bud got back on the bridge he took a look back. He saw Meg was about to pass him on the bridge. Caitlin was right behind her. He finished crossing the bridge almost two minutes after Carolyn had finished. He had lost more than two minutes due to the movement.
He would have to work hard to catch up with the ladies ahead of him, especially Carolyn. She had caught up to him from behind. She had to be doing quite well. He wouldn't be surprise to see her catch Loren and Harriet before the next obstacle.
Caitlin moved very quickly across bridge. It seemed that she was gaining on Meg with every step. It wouldn't be long before she caught up to her friend. She saw Meg pass Bud. What had he been doing? She caught him at the end of the bridge. She would catch her on this leg of the run and they would run together the rest of the way.
Skates reached the second bridge. She could see Meg and Caitlin up ahead of her. She was puzzled as to why she hadn't made up any time on her. She had been running really well. She should have gotten closer.
Then again Caitlin had almost caught Meg. She must be doing pretty well too. She resigned herself to the fact that all she do was her best. If kept up her pace eventually she would catch up to them or so she hoped.
1750 Minutes
Jen reached the second obstacle. She was booking. She had made up a lot of time. Skates wasn't too far ahead of her now. She quickly scampered across the bridge keeping pace with Skates. It wouldn't be long she thought before she caught her.
1830 Minutes
Jack reached the end of rope bridge. This was easy he thought. He wasn't even winded yet. He thought he would catch the blimey Aussie. Mic was very muscle bound. While he looked good physically, he wasn't in shape aerobically. Besides he wasn't a young man, he would tire quickly.
1850 Minutes
Skates got across the bridge very quickly. The marine told her she one of the fastest so far to transverse the bridge. Many of the marines who trained there couldn't do any better. That made her feel good.
It gave her the lift she needed to keep on working hard. She looked back to see Jen right behind her. She was shocked. How had Jen caught up to her so quickly. She quickly started running the third leg. She hoped that she could stay ahead of Jen until the swim.
1900 Minutes
Jen scampered across the second bridge. Catching Skates was her motivation and she wasn't very far behind. The marine, who standing there watching to make sure no one got hurt, was shocked to see Jen flying over the bridge.
He had never seen anyone move so quickly. Then again he had been told that women had very good balance. They seemed to do impossible stunts on the balance beam. He had once seen a woman do three backward summersaults in a row.
1920 Minutes
AJ reached the second obstacle. He was surprised that he didn't see anyone on the bridge. He asked the marine who was standing there "Am I that slow?"
"No Sir. Except for the first three runners, they all were scampering across the bridge as fast as any marine that I have seen. They all made good time especially the last two. Though one person did fall in." smiled the marine.
He didn't have to be told, it had to be Bud. He would be trying to catch up to Loren and lose focus thus falling into the swamp.
1940 Minutes
Gunny got across the first obstacle like it was child's play. He had made good time. He had done this many times over the years. This was his type of race. He felt that he was catching up to the fat boy.
It wouldn't be long he thought. He had seen him before he shimmied down the rope. What he didn't know was Mac was quickly catching him. He hadn't looked back. If he had he might have run much faster.
2000 Minutes
Mic moved along at a quick pace. He knew he had to be catching up to AJ. AJ was much older than he was. He would be pacing himself. He would be running slower. He got to second obstacle and saw that AJ was about half ways across the bridge.
He smiled, it wouldn't be long before he caught him. He hadn't had so much fun since he was in the Aussie Navy several years ago. He had to make sure that he thanked AJ for inviting him to join the group this weekend. Maybe he would even let AJ win if it was close.
2050 Minutes
Mac got to end of first obstacle. It had been child's play to her. She had made good time across and had caught her breath. She shimmied down the rope taking a look as she went. She could see Jason coming into view. She needed to keep up the hard pace if she was going to catch Gunny and then Jack.
2055 Minutes
AJ moved quickly across bridge. His people had done an excellent job showing the jarheads that squids were the best. He tried not to think too much because he had to focus on the subject at hand, but he wondered who had been the one to fall in.
It was possible that any one of the three could have fallen in. None of them were particularly athletic though he was betting on Bud. The other two would be more careful.
When he got to the end he asked the marine how far behind he was. He was shocked to hear that he nearly two minutes behind Jen. He thought he was catching up to her. Was she really that fast?
Then he remember something that Jason had told him. Jason was always telling him something. He tried not to listen. He usually ended up with a headache if listened too long. What was it? He and Jen had been running three miles together everyday for a couple of months. Damm!
Jack reached the second obstacle. He saw that Mic was half way across the bridge. What surprised him even more was that AJ had just finished crossing the bridge.
Had AJ gotten that old so quickly or was he really running a very good race. Either way it didn't matter. He would catch them both before it was over.
2110 Minutes
Loren was the first one to leave the second bridge due to Harriet's concern for Bud falling into the water. She took off quickly with the idea of distancing herself from Harriet.
Instead she started too hard and was quickly winded. She had to slow down. She couldn't run fast anymore. All she could do was put one foot in front of the other and hope to make it to the next obstacle before she had to stop.
Harriet took off after Loren. She wasn't going to let her beat her. Unfortunately like Loren she started faster than her ability to sustain the pace. She had to slow down also.
She was able however to stay with Loren and she reached the third obstacle a few seconds after Loren, but she made up the lost time during the swim.
2120 Minutes
Meanwhile Carolyn ran a more even pace after completing the second obstacle. She had seen Loren and Harriet take off. She knew they wouldn't be able to maintain the pace.
She shook her head wondering why two sensible people would try to do more than they were capable of. They had been running a smart race until then. She was able to make up some time on the run.
Because of her even pace she was able to swim the hundred yards much faster than Harriet and Loren. She hadn't tired herself out as they had. She was only ten seconds behind after the swim.
It wouldn't be long before she was ahead of them and be the leader of the pack. She knew Loren and Harriet had overextended themselves and wouldn't be contenders. But she couldn't be too overconfident. One of the marines had told her that Bud was swimming quite well and was catching up.
2140 Minutes
Mic scampered over the bridge pretty quickly. He couldn't tell if he was making up any ground on the bridge, but hr figured that he would close the gap on the next leg of the run.
When he completed second obstacle he turned around to see where Jack was. He was surprised to see that Jack was catching up to him. Damm! He thought. He wouldn't hear the end of it if Jack beat him. It was bad enough losing to Harm, but to lose to Jack too would be too much.
2200 Minutes
Gunny was running a steady pace. At all the obstacles his fellow marines had given him encouragement cheering him on. As much as he liked to think that the officers were soft bellied squids he suddenly realized that they were all much younger than he was except for the Admiral.
He was forty three while the commanders were only thirty six. Jason was only thirty. As for the women most of them were between thirty one and thirty four. Jen and Harriet were the only in their twenties.
No wonder why it was so tough to catch them. No wonder why he didn't like to run as much as he used to. He was getting old. As he reached second obstacle he saw Jack finishing.
He was going to have to change his strategy if he was going to catch the commander. He had to get the thought out of his head that he was too old to complete with these soft bellied squids. If he didn't Jason would catch him.
2220 Minutes
Jack had a smile on his face. He could see the distance between him and the blimey Aussie was getting smaller. All he had to do was keep up a good steady pace and remember to control his breathing.
The bubblehead was good for at one thing, he knew something about running. He completed second obstacle quickly and was off after Mic. He felt like he would catch him by the end of the next obstacle. Muscle bound meatheads sooner or later slowed down and when they did it was all over.
2230 Minutes
Harm was the fifteenth person to start. He had gotten word that four of the runners had already completed the swim. That was the halfway mark. He knew he had his work cut out for him, but he also realized that the leaders would begin slowing down. They wouldn't be able to keep up the pace.
He wasn't worried. It had been a good day so far. He had spent most of the morning alone with Mac. He spent more time later with his friends. They had come a long way to spend time with him. It was the least he could do to spend some quality time with them.
He ran a fast pace to the first obstacle and quickly climbed the cargo net and was across the bridge. He knew he probably wouldn't see Jason until at least the swim. He wasn't worried. He was in great shape. He would catch everyone before the end.
2240 Minutes
Jason got to the end of first bridge. It hadn't been too bad. He had slipped once while he climbed the cargo net. Walking across the rope bridge wasn't too bad once he realized he wasn't going to fall.
He needed to run fast. He needed to stay in contact with the Colonel. He needed to catch Gunny. He wasn't concerned about the Commander. He had a three minute head start. The Commander might catch him, but it wouldn't be before he caught Gunny.