In the absence of any accolades from the GM for last week’s trash (and in the total absence of the GM on this week’s run) I’ll have another go at winning his approbation for literary excellence.

The circle was called to order eventually by stand in Master – me, Towed, and the Hares invited to explain themselves. A number of checks were announced with two, numbers 4 and 6, being holding checks. Demonstrating the effort, thought and careful planning that had clearly been put into the design of this run, the Hares also announced that the walkers and runners would meet, hopefully, at two locations, the beginning and end. Walkers were on mixed pink and white paper, runners on the usual white stuff although, as the Hare cautioned, not too much of it.

The trail headed off up the hill, but FRBs Naren and Towed managed to find the in trail first and were not put off until they found the home arrow. After regaining contact with the pack somewhere around Check 2, we meandered around through forests, on roads and tracks, through building sites and all sorts before finally heading up into the forest after Holding Check 4.

Holding Check 6 saw everyone brought together except Grumblewald, who had been leading the pack from Check 5 but managed to get seriously lost on the way up the hill. From here most went even higher, except Grumblewald, Chris and Towed who decided to maintain height and, after a check of 600m or so, found the trail heading east past the waterfall and towards Shivapuri. The rest of the pack eventually followed except Griot who had managed to find a trail to nowhere. From the final check the trail headed down and onto a long run-in along a dirt road. At about 75 minutes, a fairly short Run Crafty run.

There was an excellent selection of snacks provided by Lene to supplement the regular hash fare from the absent Rotter family. (I should note here that Grumble arrived at the Roost, picked up the drinks outside, and drove off without anyone noticing. A frenzied phone call managed to get him back for the Hash Cash Stash and the snacks - GM) Once everyone was sated, the hash horn was blown by Prem signalling, for those close enough to him to have heard the magnificent sound produced, the start of the formalities.
There seemed to be a singular lack of comment on the run, indicating that either no-one did the proper route or not enough people were back. The Stand-in Master was so put out by this that he forgot to award a score. However, the pack managed to correct him and a resounding 9.9 was eventually given.

We then welcomed Virgin Beth, who announced that she has been here for 2 years and is teaching English at the British Council (eliciting a mass response from the Canadian contingent who are all seemingly desperate to learn the language).

Other down-downs were awarded, in no particular order to:

By a special request from Grumblewald and others, a rousing chorus of Father Abraham was given, despite Towed’s concern that the GM wouldn’t like it when he found out. Everyone joined in enthusiastically with the exception of Walk Crafty, who was of the view that the hash does this sort of thing far too often.

A belated down-down was awarded to Night Owl for being trashless.
The Hashit was not very closely contested eventually, but initially there was a struggle to identify a worthwhile candidate. The only nominee was Chris (who needs a hash name and my vote would be Bugsy (Warren -> rabbit -> bunny -> Bugs)) for following Towed instead of paper. The Stand-in Master was rescued by Ziggy deciding that a revitalised Tesch was a suitable candidate for his amorous advances. This was clearly a popular spectator sport in the canine fraternity as all the other dogs promptly rushed into the circle to watch, prompting a down-down for dog owners Kate, Towed Under, Naren, Giselle and Chris for the chaos their charges were creating in the circle.

A final thanks is to Lene for offering the use of her premises and providing the additional catering, including the rum punch, to Mrs. Rotter (in absentia) for the other hash catering and the Hares for a good run.

Next week’s run will be at Champi, Hared by Grumblewald and Lene. This greatly upset the Stand-in Master who had also decided that we hadn’t run at Champi for a while, and had recced a run there on Monday!