Hash 526 – Black Horse @ Cirencester

This was only our second hash from Cirencester in the twenty years we have been in existence and if you read the mag for that run (mag no 106 in February 2002) you might feel that you’re not surprised. I remember coming in to the pub after that run, frozen to the marrow and unable to take my running shoes off as my fingers were too cold to work. Today’s hash however was: (a) much warmer, (b) much shorter and (c) much more fun – so we might run from Cirencester again.

Our hares were GOM Keith and Kay and we met in a huge car park next to Cirencester Park as the Black Horse is carparkless. A pretty good turnout – about 20 of us -and it was really encouraging to see John ready and determined to run again when it seemed only the day before yesterday that he almost cut his leg off with a chain saw – and Margaret looking serene and healthy after her fall – and Maurice looking fit and strong ready for his Arctic marathon. It is increasingly apparent, however, that we really do need more runners. Only two ran the long – Maurice and Sue – five ran the short – Keith, John, David, Ainslie and your scribe, and everybody else walked.

After a very comprehensive brief by Keith we all thundered out of the car park. Unusually, the long/short divide was right at the beginning of the trail – just outside the entrance to the said car park – so you had to make an early decision. Maurice and Sue set off down the High street on the long, those running the Short turned left towards the main entrance to Cirencester Park and quite a few of the walkers decided to walk the long. The short runners kept together well – except for John who streaked ahead and we didn’t see him again until the après. The others kept together running a bit and then walking a bit to catch the breath and admire the view.

It was a really lovely run though the autumn gold trees in the Park and then on into the grounds of Cirencester College across the A429 and into the Roman Amphitheatre as the sun came out. At this point Keith solemnly announced that he had proof that an early Roman branch of Specsavers had been selling glasses there. We thought that that was a bit unlikely but he then drew our attention to an English Heritage notice which clearly stated that the Romans had indeed provided ‘spectacles’ for the locals there – not a lot of people know that.

We arrived back at the car park in just over the hour which was excellent and wandered down Castle Street to the pub. There was plenty of room so we set up camp in a large corner of the bar and gossiped and put the world to rights and Maurice stood up to express our thanks for a splendid trail by Keith and Kay. I’ve said it before I know, but I really enjoy hashing – especially our hash.