Roadrunner (store)

From USAFA Folklore

This article is about the Roadrunner convenience store. For the Roadrunners Squadron, see Cadet Squadron 32.

The Roadrunner used to be the name of the gas station and convenience store located off I-25 at Baptist Road, just north of the Academy. In earlier years, its was a Stuckey's. During the second half of BCT in Jack's Valley, basic cadets would sneak out at night and make the 2 mile hike to the Roadrunner to purchase food and candy. If they could pull it off, and return to their tents with the loot, they became heroes among their classmates. However, the trips to the Roadrunner were often thwarted by upperclassmen or officers staked out near the convenience store. They would wait until the basic cadets emerged from the store, pockets loaded with goods, then confront them, either confiscating the contraband or forcing the basic cadets to consume it all on the spot. Basic cadets who were caught were sometimes, themselves, referred to by the cadre as "Roadrunners".