survival at it's finest

Last night was Journey. And I am in way more pain than I was last year. Oh, but it was so much fun.

Yasha and I ended up as staff chasers, the ones that get the game rolling. Jeremy, from BFTW, was the lead chaser, Sir Lancelot of Charm City. I ended up driving, which turned out to be way easier than I tend to think it is: 29 goes straight through Silver Spring and into DC. We parked in the same hotel garage we did last year. We were a couple minutes late for the chaser meeting, but it didn't really matter. We got our maps and the general instructions for us: no tagging between Dupont and 1, only about 10 between1 and 2, about as many between 2 and 3, and then we're shuffled as needed. Yasha and I were on a team with another guy, Jason, and we had between 2 and 3.

After the meeting, we went to Potbellies and got subs for dinner. When Yasha went to pay for his, though, he realized he managed to forget his wallet. Jason paid for Yasha's sub, which was nice. We went back to the circle after that and got our ribbons, then helped one of the organizers, Chris, grab all the stuff from someone's car, and bring it back to set up. As soon as the table is flipped over and set up, a line forms. We end up walking down the line to intimidate players, and make our way to our post.

We stop by Checkpoints 1 and 2, just to see. 1 is at a bus depot, and has a DMV theme. They made big 'licenses' with holes for faces and you can get your picture taken. Yasha and I had ours done, just because. It was manned by the Good Player Fairy from last year, one of the guys from the 50s training vid, and a woman. We talked for a while, tell them they're supposed to get all 1000+ registrants, then move towards 2. 2 is pirate themed, with inflatable palm tree, kiddie pool, and treasure chest. We report in as 'friendly neighborhood chasers', talk for a bit, and head to where we decide to camp out.

I forgot to mention, but the Marines were back. And there were more. More on that later.

We end up on opposite sides of K, between New Jersey and North Capitol, right near the Greyhound. Apparently, a couple players left early, and 1 was not allowed to stamp people until 8:30. The players were officially released at 7:50. I wish I could provide a more accurate play-by-play, but I was following so many Twitter feeds that I had to delete my inbox twice. We don't get any action until closer to 9, I think. The Marines were moving fast, and we were told to try to get them as fast as possible.

Our team got separated, but we had each other's numbers, so it wasn't a big deal. I quickly found a group and chased them apart, separated another group, and went after others. Unfortunately, because I'm so terribly out of shape I couldn't chase them for long, but it was still fun. We patrolled from 2 to K, and as more player-chasers were made, more people were caught. Yasha chased a couple Marines towards some player-chasers, and 2 got caught.

After that, my timing gets a little messed up. We decided to move to between 4 and 5, but then we got a message from Jeremy to ease off and just intimidate players for a while, to find the lead players instead. We went to 4 anyway, where we met Kevin and a couple other Bros. We walked to 6, doing some chasing along the way. We make it to 6 in time to see the first players finish, 2 guys from Dem Boyz at 10. Yasha goes back out while I rest, and we later decide to go find Jason, who's up near 5.

On our way to 5, we help catch a ridiculously fast guy. Actually, all along 16th where we were walking we were chasing after people. Into traffic, too. There was one guy that we ended up surrounding, there were about 7 of us. He was really fast. He ran up a hill in front of a temple, and as he was coming down, I saw him heading towards me so I planted myself, all ready for him. He banked sharply before he got to me, cut between some newspaper boxes into the street, where Yasha got him. It was pretty sweet.

Bruce from the pillow fight was manning 5, dressed as Waldo, and recording videos of people's stories. Jason was a little up from 5, so we met up with him and decided to ignore the messages about intimidating only and headed to 14th between 4 and 5. We chased some, though I was really tired by then and couldn't do much running anymore. They caught a couple players that were hiding pressed against a wall, who took a little issue with us because they saw the message about not catching.

By then I was exhausted and aching all over. Each step I took shot pain up my legs from the balls of my feet, and I wished I had brought my running shoes. We decided to just head back to the car and leave, partially because of how dead we were and partially because Yasha had to deal with something with Heather. Somehow we made it back to the car and back home. Yasha fell asleep in the car. I got in right around 2.

Over 1150 players made it to 1, 512 through 2, 100 through 3, about 30 through 5. 12 teams were represented at 6. I wish I knew how the Bros did. I'm pretty sure Gabriel made it all the way through again.

Today, almost every muscle in my legs aches so bad I have trouble walking. My neck/shoulders aches too, probably remnants from carrying my bags around on Friday.