Lake Merritt - Stuck on some twisted repeat

Today was a mentor led run, which means no coaches. This also means we are not supposed to push our mileage at all, just maintain. Chipper Sue and I paired up to run Lake Merritt once again, but this time we had to run the 3.2 mile course around the lake 3 TIMES to get our 9+ mileage needed. OH GOD! I already don't appreciate this like and now I had to run it 3 times over. They suggested I run the opposite direction to "mix it up a bit." Excuse my obvious pessimism, but how many ways can you mix up gray skies, goose poop in excessive amounts, the geese herds themselves, and a Faith for the Cure race going on all at the same time on a 3 mile loop. Jeez! As I mentioned previously, everyone seems to love lake merritt, I do not share this enthusiasm. Good thing Chipper Sue was there to chat with me the whole time, we both agreed the last (and third) loop around the lake was pretty redundant. Not to mention the cyclist who kept coming up behind us with a bull horn 10 feet behind our ears, screaming "RUNNERS COMING!" He wanted us to make way for the fast pace runners coming through who were participating in the 5k race going on. That's cool and all except the path is so small you can barely double up anyway. I guess if all else failed he wanted us to jump in the lake? Afterwards Nat and I got to return to Lake Merritt (after I showered of course) and attended a Carnivorous Plant Show, and of course the weather was beautiful during that visit. Not a gray sky around, figures.