The brick is mine. It's painted yellow and has black stickers on it reading FBI National Academy and Yellow Brick Road. Well, I haven't actually RECEIVED it yet, but today, I earned it! To quote Gollum from Lord of the Rings, it's "my precious." For those of you who haven't been following along, one of the three key components of our time at the National Academy is physical fitness. The final test of our stamina and endurance was just completed. On Wednesday afternoon, we ran the Yellow Brick Road, a 6.2 mile challenge course consisting of a run through rock and root-strewn, hilly terrain. We climbed over, jumped through, and rappelled up and down obstacles. All 273 of us finished - some faster, and some a bit slower. Like our fitness instructor told us, though - the key was to finish healthy, and everybody's brick is the same color.

My group started at about 3PM. The temperature was about 90 degrees, but thankfully the humidity wasn't too high. We took buses off the FBI portion of the base, out to the Marine challenge course. Our start times were staggered, so we didn't all bunch up at the obstacles. The first 3 miles of the course was all in the woods, and included the obstacle portion. This is a real-deal course: stories of those in previous classes who broke bones and suffered other injuries served as a great reminder to pay close attention to where our feet were landing! But, it was also fun. Runners laughed, joked, helped, and encouraged their classmates to keep up their efforts.

After the obstacle portion was over, it was a 3.2 mile run back to the FBI base over gravel and paved roads. There were several serious hills involved, too - you know, you never notice those darn hills when you're in your car. When you are running, though, it's a different story. Luckily there were water stations, medical aid stations and FBI staffers monitoring the trails to make sure everyone finished safely. When I crossed the finish line, I was so moved to see that many runners were going back up the road, to link up with their peers and escort them the rest of the way providing support and companionship - a true team effort.

After every runner crossed the finish line, we all returned to the dorms for well-deserved (and needed) showers. Then, the Academy staff hosted a great steak dinner in celebration of our accomplishment. There may be a few aches and pains tomorrow, but the pride and memories of today's accomplishment will last much, much longer than that.

One of the few people I wanted to share my little victory with wasn't here at Quantico, however. My wonderful wife Cindy was a big part of this victory. When I received notification last February that I was bound for the National Academy, Cindy did everything in her power to help me prepare - and knowing that I had her support and approval made all the difference. There were many long hours spent in the gym, on the treadmill, and on the running trails getting ready. Cindy even started running the trails with me, and I have no doubt that she would have breezed across the line today and earned her own yellow brick if she were here. Well, I've got one. And like everything else in our lives, we'll share it! Thank-you, my darling. You are the best.