| Date | Hare | Scribe |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Jun 2024 | Viv & John | Annie |
Mike originally “volunteered” to write the mag this week but he handed over to me as the walk was a little too much for him at the moment. Let me explain…..
Mike has had a pacemaker since 2002, he’s awaiting a replacement very soon, this will be his 3rd and thank heavens the clever people in GWH will soon have him back to full power, as, like an iPhone he’s currently in battery saving mode. I’m reminded of a verse in a poem The Late Keith wrote for Mike on the occasion of his 60th birthday
“You are old Navy Mike, but you frequently run
In the cold, wearing only your vest.
And your knees-shot to hell, heart runs off a dry cell-
Don’t you think you should give it a rest?”
If you’d like to read the rest, it is in our downstairs loo, bring wine, you’ll be very welcome.
As you know, when I write the mag I have poor recall for the running/walking bit, I just rabbit on, so here we go.
We were a goodly number and blessed with fine weather. Viv and John are the perfect example of a couple who work in synchrony. Viv set the long but walked the short, John set the short and ran the long. Perfect. And Mike approved of the standard 3 miles for the walkers, 6 for the runners.
We set off for the Country Life experience of fabulous homes and magnificent gardens and we weren’t disappointed. Little Coxwell sometimes does an Open Garden event and I can recommend this as there are charming little ones as well as the stately home type.
We were soon in lush countryside, leafy corridors and treated to glorious views. We’d been warned about the horses and cows beforehand in the briefing. As promised, the horses were passive and took no notice. Personally I thought they couldn’t see us with those hoods they wear to keep the flies off, but who knows? Cows are a different matter.
Yes, I know a lot of you went through them and told us they were dear, gentle souls, but I will never in my life trust cows again. And I have it on good authority that cow related incidents are on the increase so I’d rather boil my head than go through them. We took Viv’s advice and went to see them because she said we’d meet John there. He can part cows like the Red Sea apparently but the tide had turned and he was nowhere to be seen. We retraced our tracks back to Viv who escorted us to a link that enabled us to join up with the trail again.
I think the runners fared well enough in the rape seed fields, no lacerated or yellow legs to be seen and they all still had smiles on their faces.
We had a lovely room for the après so we didn’t disturb the diners but seeing the dinners being carried through was a bit of a torment. .The horn and the shorts were both awarded to Hilary, ( I can’t remember why) and oddly, she seemed to think that was an honour and accepted with good grace. That’s positive thinking at its best.
GOM thanked Viv and John, quite rightly so, a very good Hash all round.