Following instructions obviously written by an engineer - brief, to the point, factual, easy to follow and with no aesthetic value whatsoever - the pack foregathered in front of the Catalunya School more or less by the appointed time of 15.00. Apple (for reasons to be explained later), Jedi and Diced Carrots (now in charge of a much better behaved Jathra) were the last to arrive. The Hares advised there were seven checks, 3, 4 and 5 to be shared with the walkers, and only one, Check 4, was to be a holding check.

First paper, as usual, was “thataway” and the pack promptly fanned out in an arc of 180 degrees desperately searching for the elusive paper. Little did we know that this was to be the way of things for the rest of the afternoon. Eventually, with a little prompting from the Hares, the trail was found running along the south bank of the river and to Check 1, which no-one noticed. However, when the front runners ran off paper Rotter, lagging some way behind, was able to spot a trail across the river and heading up towards a large plateau. This proved to be the first of many false trails and the point at which I lost contact with the pack for a little while. Following Grumblewald up a parallel trail to the plateau, we then proceeded to explore separate ways of meeting up with the pack, who when last seen were off to our right. Suffice it to say that some 45 minutes into the run I found Check 1!

Following paper along the river, having to run every junction as a check since the Hares had not seen fit to guide the runners through junctions, and using my full command of the Nepali language to elicit guidance from the local populace I managed to find my way, mostly on paper, to Check 3 from where I could once again hear the cry of the dreaded “On-On”. Bypassing the Holding Check (unwittingly) at a delightful little Stupa (so I was later told) I finally caught up with the walkers and a Hare in distress, who was trying to shepherd them in roughly the right direction. Some little time later The Lost Ark, Keeled Over and Run Crafty were encountered coming in from a side trail, so at least I was not the only one to be lost.

Running along a trail recognised from the last run in this area, Check 5 was encountered with no sign of any other runners. Following directions given by Night Owl we took the runners’ route from this check, discovering later that the FRBs had opted for the walkers’ trail. Checks 6 and 7 were lost once we were able to see the school below us and a quick cut down a steep trail saw us back at the On-In in around one-and-a-half hours. The rest of the pack soon straggled in, generally from the right direction.

Once recovery was well under way Handphun began the distribution of clothes aid from Bangladesh. The Night Runners of Bengal, having visited in previous weeks, had decided that HHHH was short of T-shirts and kindly donated a mixed bag which was soon distributed. Rotter capitalised on the T-shirt frenzy by bringing out a bag of ancient HHHH shirts and appointing Towed Under as chief salesperson.

Before the T-shirt sales had finished, the pack had become so bored with affairs that they had already formed a circle, Hurry K had poured the down-downs and all were awaiting the Master’s displeasure. The Hares were duly called in to receive the usual abuse from the circle. Suggestions of 10.5 for being ecologically conscious and laying so little paper that Towed felt at home even when he was on paper were eventually modified to 9.9 for what would have been an excellent run had they laid any paper on it!

Other Down-downs were as follows:

• Kathy and the Lost Ark for coming back
•Jedi for nearly leaving (eliciting a number of concerns as to why she hadn’t left already)
•The Fox for believing the conversation on the Tuesday fast Hash and turning up at Towed Hall last Saturday
•Tadpole for having survived 50 runs
•Screwed for once again having a muddy bum
•Tadpole for hash slashing at a check (actually a false accusation by the GM)

Nominations for the Hashit were called for and were limited to Apple for running out of gas even before he got to the run, The Fox for wrong slotting last week and a very weak nomination from Night Owl of Towed, for running most of the run he planned to set next time. The Master’s final decision was in favour of Apple.

Handphun was then called in for bringing T-shirts from the lowest run in the world to almost the highest and finally Towed was castigated for being too busy writing the trash to sing for Handphun.

Thanks to the Hares for an interesting run and to Mrs Rotter (in absentia) for the hash catering.