FD teamed up with HRA for a run way down the canal road. It’s an area we’ve run in before, but a slightly different start point always puts a slightly different twist on a run as I try to remember just exactly where everything is. Today we started further away from the mountains which meant we had a couple of km before we got off the ‘roads’. I got the first check wrong, and coming back was behind Piggy. Running along with Chuckie, we were about 100m behind Piggy, and he just kept nailing the checks – as soon as we got to a circle, he was calling OnOn from up ahead. To be fair I would have checked the same way, but he was doing well…. Until, the trail turned a corner, ignored the smaller trail that went straight on, and put a check not far around the corner…
Chuckie was coming back to check straight on, and between us we found the trail with Piggy finally getting something wrong. Into the jungle, sometimes on trail, sometimes not quite a trail, but there was a reasonable group including the German ladies, Tasty Buns and Romy, while Turkey was desperately trying to get a break. A tough circle had us scrambling everywhere, and amazingly Piggy got back to the front, with Turkey on his tail.
Another circle check, and we again dispersed, calling “Checking”. That was when the hash changed for me. Somewhere behind a loud voice called “On On” – surely from a previous check, but a bit confusing – I called “Checking” back, and again the “On On” call came, this happened a couple of times before Humperdick bellowed across the hills that he didn’t care if we were checking as we had clearly short cut to get there. Fortunately, most of the pack ignored him, and we managed to work as a team to find the trail and continue, but the constant grumbling was enough for me – I lost interest and walked back.
I hash because I like to run, and I like to have fun running interesting places with a fun group of friends – I don’t go to get bitched and and bullied – that kind of destroys the fun part. I go out and put in effort to find trail, and help those behind find their way along as well, while having fun at the same time. If I get there ahead, so what, if you get there ahead, so what, it isn’t a race, and it certainly isn’t an exact science – the point is the exercise and the beer, with good humoured camaraderie. It certainly isn’t about intentionally trying to confuse people who happen to be ahead of you on trail.