Ep 27: ‘Completing’ Dawson-Delta
Finishing on a Runner's High
After an errand run about Brentwood yesterday, I received an exciting notification from Gogomi that I’d covered more of the Dawson-Delta area. A glance at the map revealed that I was soo close to ‘completing’ all the main roads in the area*. So close!
I realised I could cover all the remaining segments in one long run. The fact that it formed a perfect loop seemed like fate! The route would take me towards Holdom, down to a roundabout, through Still Creek and then back to Brentwood Town Centre.
I donned my running gear, reminiscing the last time I’d moved faster than a walk. Unlike that time, this was not to train for a 10K or draw pretty geoglyphs on the map, today’s mission was simple: cover the very last segments in the Dawson-Delta area.
The challenge? Doing this in the rain. Shortly after waking up, gloomy clouds unleashed their sadness, forming puddles everywhere. I was secretly excited - it reminded me of my childhood days jumping in rain puddles.
The Run Begins
I started with a cautious jog, checking if the roads were too slippery. The last thing I wanted was a fall with finishing this final coverage!
As I descended the Douglas Road roundabout and over the Still Creek bridge, I found the streets empty. This allowed me to sway on the road, enjoying the rain and my own panting. Dawson-Delta’s largely industrial nature (auto-repair shops, showrooms, furniture stores) explained the Sunday morning ghost town vibe.
I carried on past a little stream until I reached the Willingdon overpass. Suddenly, I realized I had to climb up onto it. Surprise stair climb! I mentally played "You’re the Best" for motivation, excited to boost my coverage to 100%.
I pushed on for the last stretch, following cars on the busy road, and finally returned to Brentwood Town Centre. Loop complete!
True to the ironic Ghanaian tradition of eating heavily after a workout, I swung by McDonald’s for some fries before heading home, eager to see Gogomi’s reaction to my accomplishment.
Later that day, my phone buzzed with the anticipated notification:
Seeing 100% coverage of a neighborhood was amazing, and sooner than expected! I was thrilled to see Gogomi’s congratulations, while also chuckling at the irony - I had coded this template string myself, making it a real-life version of the Obama Awards Obama meme!
Footnotes
*I marked coverage with an asterisk due to a technicality about truly ‘completing’ all road segments in a region. I’ll get into this in a future devlog/technical blog post.