Although the Hares for the Run are as listed above, the Hares that actually set the run included Towed Under, who was unfortunately struck down in a manner reminiscent of the GM on other Saturday mornings. This led to some concern as to the reliability of the walkers Hares since Custard Tart had set the first half of the run with Towed, and Lazy Towed hadn't been involved at all!

Anyway, there was a goodly turnout by the appointed hour and by ten minutes later the US contingent had arrived. The GM called the circle to order whilst the Hare sorted out his Co-Hares. An indeterminate number of checks were announced, of which four would be holding (one of which was unmarked as it was in a no littering area). River crossings and false trails were possible and the first paper was off to the south towards Kokhana. The trail immediately looped back towards Sano Kokhana and Check 1. After a bit of casting around in the wrong area and discovery of a false trail, it was Rotter who eventually found paper and was soon joined at the head of the pack by The Fox who had been casting around in the wheat fields. Check 2 on the road down to Kokhana saw the pack coming together again and eventually finding their way to Holding Check 3 under the usual tree.

Walkers and runners followed separate trails to Check 4 on the west side of the Bagmati, via the usual seasonal bridge. From here false trails abounded and the majority of the pack headed off to the south, clearly of the view that the return across the river would be at the Leper Hospital. Not so, as the trail headed off north to Check 5 (Loverboy finding the way from this check in the middle of a bog) and then uphill to the Dakshinkali Road and Check 6. From here once again the Leper Hospital drew a number of runners before Mark, with a little assistance from the Hare, found the trail to the north. It should be mentioned at this point that the leader of the southern bridge brigade was again The Fox who, from the start of the run, had seemed intent on misreading the trail and thus indulging in a series of long-cuts throughout the afternoon.

A brief loop down through the wheatfields to pick up the walkers’ trail at Check 7 and back up to the road, before heading off via Check 8 towards the Taudaha Lake. It was Check 8 that saw the pack truly spread out, with a breakaway group of Rotter, Night Owl and Beership Down never being seen again other than high on the far bank of the river as the rest of us approached Check 12. Check 9 was down by the stream below the lake and Check 10 was where the walkers should have split off, returning directly to the On-In via a new seasonal bridge just below the site whilst the runners continued northwards via the lake. It is not actually clear what happened to the walkers, or even if they reached Check 9, let alone came back over the correct bridge. It is worth noting that the runners pack had, by this time, become seriously depleted, notable losses being Geoff and Jim.

A brief run around the north-east corner of the lake was followed by a plunge back down to the delights of the Bagmati, with Check 11 laid on a pool of black sludge in the river’s shallows. This was at the site of the notorious Shrivelled crossing of the Bagmati on Run 1354. Sadly no-one spotted the false trail running up from the opposite bank so were not tempted to follow the local lady happily paddling her way through the mire. Holding Check 12, just before the Chobar Temple, was ignored by all, having been set marginally to the left of the trail. Holding Check 13, at the brand new café high up on the east bank of the river provided welcome refreshments for a thirsty band of around 15.

There only remained a couple of back checks on what was otherwise a fairly straight run back in to the On-In, with most of the pack making it in less than 2 hours and all the walkers in a little less than that.

Little time was allowed by the Master for Hare restoration, so it was a rather knackered threesome that was called into the circle to face judgement. Accusations of paucity with paper were refuted by the Hare on the grounds that he had been advised by the GM that he didn't need to lay much of this super Danish stuff. Otherwise everyone else was too knackered to comment other than Keeled, who had objected to pollution of the Bagmati with hash paper (or was it the other way round?). 9.9 was awarded without much hesitation (other than a less than generous offer of 2.3 from Geoff, I think), and the Hares were released to complete their recovery.

Virgins Jessie, Alex, Lotte and Jacob were then welcomed. Jessie and Alex are here supporting husband/Dad in perpetuation of the British Empire and Jacob and Lotte are propping up a faltering Danish population.

Other down-downs were awarded to:

Finally losing control, the GM called for social drinking before he’d awarded the Hashit. On being reminded of this omission he took the huff and refused to award it, telling the RA to award it himself if it was that important. Guess who got it!

Thanks to Mrs Rotter for the catering and to the Hares for a fantastic run set in beautiful conditions amidst the delightful fresh spring breezes that pervade the river valley at this time of year. Eau de Cologne? More like Odour Bagmati!