| Date | Hares | Scribe |
|---|---|---|
| 27 Oct 2019 | Kevin & Julie | Des |
I recall the Boxing day hash at the ‘Keepers’ in 2012, which was especially noteworthy, not just for the usual high standard of fancy dress, but also the heavy rain leading up to, and during the hash day itself. Yes, it properly rained on that hash!!!
Our hares this time were Kevin and Julie, and just like 2012, things were not looking good for them on the weather front. It absolutely lashed down all day on the Saturday. Would our hares need to re-route their trail onto the roads, as Maurice had to 2012? Would we be able to run the lush valley paths next to the river Coln?
Well, what a contrast Sunday was, with glorious sunshine and warm temperatures for the whole day. There was a merry throng of hashers and dashers (doggy hashers) ready and willing to take advantage of this fine late Autumn day. Yes, the ground was a bit sodden in places but nothing our hardy hashers couldn’t take in their stride.
The running trail took us out to through the village of Quenington and onto some lovely trails high on the valley along the Coln. There were lovely views to be had and the scenes were enhanced by some extensive flooding of low-lying fields, creating clear still reflective lakes. The trail then led us out to the road to Coln Saint Aldwyns, (yet another fine Cotswold village). Here the long and short routes met, with a village loop to complete before returning OnIn.
I arrived at this junction with Keith who had kept me entertained at the rear of the field. We were both initially confused when faced with two ‘short route’ arrows on opposite sides of the road, both pointing directly at each other. We were trying to work out whether we would be converted into an energy pattern and be transported or beamed down back to the pub if we passed between these marks!
Thankfully we bumped into Eleanor and Colin, who had already done the village loop and they put us right on how to proceed through this space-time hazard. In fact, Colin, Eleanor, and Debjit decided to run the village loop again. There was something supernatural going on.
Earlier on, along the route we had stopped and had a chat with a couple walking in the opposite direction. The lady ‘Jane’ an ex-hasher from another local hash, said she thought she had been previously been acquainted with our Mike, on the Tunnel House hash many years before (his reputation goes before him). Anyway, she seemed interested in our hash so we exchanged pleasantries and the KVH3 web address. Let’s see if we have another hasher for the future.
Back at the pub, I learned that both Brian and Navy Mike had somehow managed to run the village loop in reverse, hence I am even more convinced of ‘strange happenings’ back at the ‘space-time’ junction.
The pub was very welcoming as the returning walkers and runners almost completely burst the walls of the bar area to create a noisy vibrant atmosphere. Keith thanked our hares who had set a fantastic trail that was universally cheered as one great Autumn hash.
On a tangent, I was most impressed with the ‘stencil’ like quality of the trail marker arrows. I expect that Kevin and Julie were not unused to getting house points for neat handwriting during their school years.