LSW hashers: onon, and welcome to my blog.
Followers of my blog
(whoever I haven’t bored to death by now), meet the members of the Little Sai
Wan hash.
I thought I’d use the medium of my blog to do the write up
of this week’s run.
For the bloggers, I
will translate the hashing jargon in italics. Every run has a write up – like a
post-match report – that is done by the person who is setting the next run.
Next week, I am setting the run, so the duty for the write up falls to me.
The A to B began at Wan Chai Gap playground, with almost 40
runners ready and raring to take on the Parkys’ trail.
Most runs are ‘A to A’,
which means you all meet in one place and dump your bags; then the trail goes
in a big circle to bring you back to your stuff, the beers and showers. A to Bs
mean you leave your stuff somewhere, then run somewhere else, and the
organisers magic your gear somewhere else. It’s whole different level of effort
for the organisers, and usually sign of a good run in prospect.
As soon as the trail led the pack into Aberdeen Country
Park, it fiendishly put the pack into disarray. A harshly long check back made
everyone retrace their steps back up a hill to rediscover true trail down a
side set of steps. However, some SCBs double-guessed the hares, and took the true
trail early – you know who you are.
Not that Aberdeen…! A ‘check
back’ is a marking that tells the runners that the real route – ‘true trail’ –
is back the way you have come, somewhere between where you last had
confirmation that you are on the right track and this new mark. It’s a great
way of keeping the quick runners slowed up. An SCB is short-cutting bastard – a moniker for people
who don’t follow the trail as it is set…not cricket.
From here, the trail became a true runners trail, thinning
out the pack a fair bit, as it hit the Hong Kong trail. Guy tai certainly
appreciated making some headway.
Runners trail is code
for a flat, fairly easy to navigate trail. Others will translate this as ‘boring’,
but I am a big fan – better than fighting through up hill non-trails and bushes
and trees!
Some controversy in the post-match analysis ensued after the
wimps/Rambo split some complained of ambiguous fork junctions poorly labelled…but
guy tai saw them fairly clearly, no complaints from me.
‘Wimps and rambos’ are
the terms for ‘short and long’ runs…to make these happen, the group has to
split at some pit, which is marked on the road. In the dark, forks in the trail
can be confusing when you only have blobs of flour to go on. This caused some
bad tempers on finished the run. But I was lucky and guessed them right.
After these forks, the packs rejoined on a catchwater – and the
rambos had to pass a few speedy wimps. A well judged split.
The aim of splits is
to catch the slower/short runners up with the longer runners. Most runs, the
quicker runners still get ahead early – but this run did a great job keeping
everyone together. Catchwaters are big concrete channels that literally catch the
torrents that can crash down HK hills and stop the downpours causing mudslides
etc…but normally they are almost empty and provide nice flat accompanying paths
to follow.
After some more swift progress along the concrete flat –
aside some sideswipes from tree branches – the group split again into what
Parknshop dubbed the ‘forestry trail’. Shiggy time for the rambos.
The catchwaters are
usually flat and offer quick running, but are not always used regularly – hence
the trees in face (by now it’s dark). ‘Shiggy’ is the term for running off road/path/set trail. For many hashers,
this is the gold standard and a must…but it can be hazardous.
Guy tai managed to trip and stumble several times over
fallen branches and trailing creepers on the otherwise exciting forest trail;
but eventually lost his footing in the undergrowth and crashed into the mulchy
floor face first. On fumbling for his torch lodged in nearby undergrowth, he
found he had almost squashed a spider with his face.
No translation here.
Spider bit is true. Eek.
After scrambling to his feet, sniffing that the end was near
from glancing at his satnav watch, guy tai was dismayed to come across some
steps. Then some more. And more. About 500 in fact. An unsociable and trying
time to get steps, but he was driven on by voices ad torches to his rear
gaining ground.
These we found out are
called the sunshine steps.They probably made me fitter, but did not make me
sunny.
From the top of these punishing steps, it was On Home down a
paved road to the HKCC.
On Home is the term
that means there are no more false routes laid on the road, and the end is I sight.
HKCC is the cricket club I have waxed lyrical about here – what a venue.
And so the post-match frivolities began (for guy tai, after
having to run back a couple of km to check Shake Your Booty had made it up the
steps, hearing of an ankle injury) with a dip in the pool and some
complimentary towels. Fancy.
Poor Claire had turned
her ankle in the dark, and soldiered up the hundreds of steps with a limp. And in
the end needed o rescuing, despite my gesture… On venue, normally the
post-match drinking is in a park ear some smelly loos. So pool and free towels
is pretty swish.
The survivors – grumbling about the un-hash spirited few who
came to run and did not stay to eat and drink, pah! – gathered in the civilised
surroundings and lined up for more quality grub than you could shake a stick at.
Fourth helping of chips anyone?
This is the picture –
we rarely sit anywhere so nice. For my run next week we will be standing in the
street eating kebabs, for example.
Any sceptics crumbled in the face of the famous dessert.
Rhubard crumble – a quintessential
Brit dish – is almost impossible to find. And cricket club does a cracking one.
And everyone knows it. So a Parky run finishing here is highly prized.
Down Downs were as follows
These are the drinks
that attendees are required to take as fines for offences committed en route. These
often sound like they are in code and barely make sense even for normal
attendees. So I won’t offer translations here.
The hares – for an ‘interesting run’
Returnees – Tom turk (?) on his 25th run in 10
years
Octopussy – imminent marriage
Motormouth guest – fined for wearing her host’s clothes
Any Dick Will do – for abandoning her guest
Unnamed visitor, T-shirt and fine
Guy tai – donated 10kg of flour for next week’s run, and
took down down for it
Tony – size not being key
C(o)ntractor – taking one for the team…
Hares – for rhubarb
Anal invitation – selling beers with no hawkers’ license
