Borna GA in . . . (Long read but good allegory)

It was an awesome place for a marathon race. A four lane highway converted to 24 lanes of track all going for miles and miles through the scenic countryside of Borna, GA in the mountains. At the start of the race there were thousands of us crammed together behind the start line. I found myself in Lane 1 at the far left. I was mid pack, too far back to see the start line. And looking behind me there were people as far as I could see. When the starter's gun went off I couldn't even move for may half an hour. Finally I was able to walk then slowly start to jog. It took 9 minutes from there just to get to the start line. Up ahead I could see a big bend in the road. When we got around the bend there was a huge sign across the road that said "Merge into far right lane, Bridge out ahead." So I slowly started moving towards the right. a few others were heading that way too but most runners just kept going in the same lanes they started. There were several more signs along the way. Most of them just said "Merge Right". Others said. "Keep right", "Stay in far right lane", "Bridge out ahead", "move to the right", "Caution, Road ends", "Beware, Road Ends ahead", "No Bridge in left lanes", "Wrong lanes, Move Right", and stuff like that. At First there were signs every couple of hundred yards and then the got fewer and further between them. After the first few signs I had gotten myself into the far right lane. It wasn't even part of the original highway but was a bike path along the side of the highway. But it ran right along side the rest of the lanes so I could have gone back and forth anytime. But after reading all those signs I just felt compelled to stay in the far right lane. After a few miles the right lane was separated from the rest of the lanes by a patch of grass. The grass was just a foot or two wide but it was enough to show a difference between the far right lane and the rest of the track (where most of the racers were still running). A couple of more folks merged into the right lane with me when the grass started. We ran on for miles like that. There were a few more "Merge Right" signs but not as many as before. Soon I saw the grass patch getting wider and there was a ditch in the middle of it. Those who decided to get into the right lane had to jump the ditch which slowed them down a little but it wasn't very wide so everyone who tried did it with ease. After a while the ditch got bigger and then a low guard rail emerged. A few joggers moved right but now they had to stop running, Climb over the guard rail and then jump over the ditch. Another mile down the road the ditch got deeper and wider. I saw more then one runner climb over the guard rail but then when they saw how deep and wide the ditch was they changed their minds and got back in the left lanes. One guy tried to jump the ditch and fell into the water. He got wet but he did get onto the path in front of me. I followed his wet footprints for a mile before he dried off enough to not leave footprints. Squish, Squish was the sound at first. But after a while he dried off and looked just like the rest of us in the far right lane. I turned my attention to those on the main track and realized the guardrail had become a 4 foot tall chain link fence. I saw a couple of guys climb over the fence to get on the far right lane, and there were still signs saying to get over here even though it was much more difficult to do so now. but there were only a few of us on the right path. Most people were still running the race on the highway. Up ahead I could see that my path went up a steep hill while the main road stayed more level because the hill had been cut into to make the highway. At that point some runners climbed back over the fence to the main highway. They wanted the easier way I guess. It was really hard getting up that hill. I could see those on the main highway passing me one after the other. By the time I trudged up to the top of the hill I was no longer running but barely walking. When I got to the top of the hill I was glad I had taken the right path. I no longer cared that many were passing me I had a beautiful view from the top of the hill. Mountains, hills, valleys, meadows, and a river that ran down the mountains and crossed ahead of where we were running. It was then that I noticed I would cross the river on an old wooden foot bridge but the highway bridge was missing. Looked like it had been washed away in a storm. The river was wide and raging at that point and there was a huge brick wall separating the highway from the right path. There would be no passing from the highway to the right path when they got to the river for not only was there a huge wall but a stream ran between the path and the highway and there were dense woods so I knew by the time I get to the river I won't even be able to see the highway. After enjoying the view for a few minutes I headed back down the mountain path and back into the marathon. When the path got down to the altitude of the highway there was a point for a mile or two where the Highway and the path were only separated by a patch of grass with a low guardrail and a shallow narrow ditch. At that point racers could easily move back and forth between the paths. but at that point the only signs we could see where the ones in our lane which said "Keep Right" and "You are on the right path". The runner's on the highway could not see those signs because they were angled towards us. I told some runners to get on over to the right because of the bridge out ahead but most of them ignored me. At one point I stopped running because I saw the ditch was getting deeper and wider again. I stood there for over 10 minutes trying to get everyone running down the highway to cross over to the right path. Most of them ignored me. Some looked at me like I was crazy and others shouted insults at me. Very few listened to me and actually came over to the right path. Finally I started jogging again while still calling over to those on the highway that they need to come to the right lane. I called out until the trees and bushes between us were so dense that I could no longer see them. So here I am running towards the river which I will run over on the narrow wooden footbridge and I know that the runners on the highway will get to the end of their road soon and have no hope of getting over the river to the promised land.