School Patrols

Time to revisit my new 5k route! I went out a bit later than last time, and so rush hour traffic was not in my favour. Drivers are very anxious to show you the courtesy of speeding up when they think a pedestrian is about to cross a road to allow said pedestrian to cross behind them.
Any hesitation on a pedestrian's part is seen as a desire to let cars go first. On the other side, pedestrians brave enough to set foot onto a street in front of a turning car is bordering suicidal.
I remember making the mistake of crossing a street (at the corner) a couple of years ago when out for a run. The mistake was not crossing the street. The mistake was that in my shoulder check I hadn't turned right around to see the car speeding down the hill behind me in a desperate bid to beat me to the corner. After all, the driver had a left-hand turn to make and no runner - slow or not - was going to make them slow down at the corner! I was more than halfway across the lane when the car conceded that I had fairly beat them and graciously let me continue across the street. But not without pointing out their displeasure at my indiscretion by leaning on the horn.
Flash forward to today! With some streets to cross along my 5k mildly hilly route, I felt sure that I would be waiting for ages to get around the impatient cars. But fortunately rush hour drivers can be surprisingly generous in giving way, and today was no exception.
My goal was to run a little bit longer than I did in January - aiming for 5k instead of 4.85k. And also to run a little bit faster - aiming to beat my previous time of 33.58min.

Off I went! The school patrol man was out at the cross walk I meant to cross. I made the mistake of assuming he was there for the students only, and crossed on my own. As I started to cross I could see him snap to attention and grab his neon STOP sign. When I got to the other side I glanced over my shoulder and saw him jumping onto the road to warn the already stopped drivers to STOP. I presumed it was for the students to cross but there was no one else around. It was kindly meant for me. Perhaps useless since I had already crossed the street, but otherwise very sweet.
There were no more school patrol people on my route announcing cars to STOP for the runner, so I had to manage without. Most cars - as I already mentioned - were very polite.
I can't say I was running particularly hard, but I tried to keep a half decent pace. On the way back I saw Mr School Patrol at the ready. He was watching me carefully as I came down the hill, suspecting correctly that I might be crossing back again. As I approached, I caught his eye and signalled that I was indeed planning to cross at his crosswalk and he smartly stood at the ready, grabbed his neon STOP sign, and strutted out in front of traffic just as I hit the street. Convenient, that. I wish there were more school patrols on my running route, waving their neon STOP signs importantly as I run by.

Total distance: 5k
Total time: 30.24min