Hash 508 – The Runner @ Swindon

I’ve noticed that, over the last six months or so, there has been a trend towards running  from pubs  in the middle of conurbations rather than pubs in villages in the middle of open countryside – and the hash today followed the trend with our very first hash from a pub that used to be called the Running Horse but is now called the Runner (so athletic types like us are bound to be particularly welcome there) which is right in the middle of Swindon. It worked well as our hares Sue and Prof Brian know the area and were able to lay a trail almost entirely through open green spaces with lots of historical interest.  The area was once full of railway lines and canals built in Victorian times of which many remain as leafy linear parks.  It just goes to show that you don’t have to run from a country pub to enjoy a hash.

On this bright cold morning with the clouds blowing away I joined an unusually large crowd of hashers chatting and laughing in the Runner’s capacious car park – all it seemed with children and dogs, Sue and Brian had each laid a part of the trail – Brian the walkers trail and Sue the  runners – and we had a thorough briefing with explanations of the hash signs (as there were quite a few new hashers) before setting off down a path at the back of the car park and on to the towpath of the old Swindon & Berkshire  canal and then in a loop past Swindon’s ‘Front Garden ’and on through places like Mannington and Toothill.

I ran the walkers trail with David (who went on to run the medium) so saw little of the whole trail or the adventures enjoyed by the runners but can report that the walkers trail was full of interest and extremely well marked with sensuous curved arrows about four feet long and so many dots and ‘T’s  that even the new hashers couldn’t get lost.  You could tell that all the trails were exactly the right length too because  we all got back more or less together in just over the hour.

One thing stood out in this hash – out of the large number of people who came – about 30 including children – only five ran – GOM Keith, Jeremy, Matt, David and me.  Our hash is rightly enjoyed by both walkers and runners but we need more (and younger) runners to get the balance right particularly as most of today’s runners are knocking on a bit.

The après was, as always, convivial and relaxed. The runner is a large modern pub but one that has an old fashioned, local, feel about it and Joy of Joys – no ugly pop music blaring out of loudspeakers.  Sue and Brian had booked a long table so that we could all sit together and we gossiped and played with the children and Keith made a very warm speech passing on our thanks to the hares for an excellent trail.