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Leap year day… Meh! the run was right outside my office – I could probably have sat in my office and heard the onon calls, so of course I headed out to get a piece of the action.

The A bucket was from the corner on the way to Galae Rest. Several options from here, but most involve a climb. Brownie was first out of the gate, and a circle check had most of us wanting to check up the road to the dam by Galae Rest. Brownie bizarrely picked down, and was eventually rewarded with powder. Fortunately we were running downhill behind him, but the next check took us up. I gambled on the hare taking us through the compound to the gate at the far end, but was sadly wrong… Very wrong… I was a long, long way behind climbing up the hill.

My legs felt like lead weights. Every step was a struggle. I pressed on, but not with too much effort. We hit the nice flat trail that runs along the “bottom” of the hill, and they were still checking. Some inside knowledge – of course it is right. So I slipped past Brownie as he came charging back down the hill, and Piggy coming back from the left. It didn’t last long – I conserved energy as they swept past. I felt shit, and all of my fears were realised when the trail headed up the hill. Yup – I’d been here before, but normally in the other direction. Dam this is a bitch of a climb. I was trailing behind the pack, and struggling – I was so tempted to give up and go back…

Damn this strava is keeping me honest! I conserved energy and pressed on. I was grateful when we stopped going up and edged our way along the side of the hill. I saw Brownfinger standing at a corner, having come back from a false trail, and then again stood at a circle check – very unlike Brownie! This time Poo was the only one checking up the hill, but heading up and over to the pilgrims trail seemed the obvious option. Sure enough we were right, and there was the circle check on the Pilgrims trail. Poo was ahead, heading right down the hill. Damnit, no way I was going up at that point, so I followed. Thwarted – finally Brownie called from up the hill. Shit, again I was off the back of the pack, and somehow we were climbing up the mountain again… Where the hell was he taking us?

I got back in the action as the leaders came back confused from a false trail. An excellent check that had them all over the place. Finally Graven found it, and I followed him down a deathly descent. Brownie I think was taking undue risks on the descent to the waterfall, but we got to the circle together with Graven already checking down the waterfall – he was checking down as we could see powder down there, so we followed. The next circle was great. No obvious trails, and it could be anywhere. I had no idea, and I’ve scouted this mountainside a lot. Off up to the left and this seemed like a trail, that turned into a proper trail. How have I missed this one??? This was new to me.

Piggy was right on my tail as we breezed past the hare hiding in the bushes. I knew the run would involve a fast descent, and now it had started. Push onwards… Straight into a false trail. Nice work CW, very nice! Damnit! And a nice switch back – I was just lucky to finally find the waterfall crossing before anyone else. Moments later I was back on the pilgrims trail, and hell I was running. Fatigue gone, I was running.

At the bottom of the trail, the trail breaks up all over the place before coming together again. Descending to the right is shorter, but steeper and more dangerous. The loop to the left is safer, and I think faster, so I opted for that, and heard about the circle check later when Graven hit it. They were still chasing me as I hit the road. Pushing on, I allowed myself a glance over my shoulder, Graven & Piggy were there, but far enough back. Could I hold them off?

And then another false trail……!!!! Mothafocka!!! So close to home, but still lots of action left. Next we had the waterfall slippy slide. On the road, and I needed a rest. I let Brownie go down the hill, as I headed up to the right. Wow! I was on, and heading towards home with Piggy. You are only as good as your last circle check. Piggy gave me the choice, and I should have known it. I knew I was wrong 5m later.

Excellent set, some really, really good checks in there.

Check out the evidence on fly by

And so, it came to pass, as the moon came into phase that it was the (Chinese) Lunar New Year & Spring Festival to be celebrated along with the CH3’s celebration run number 1100.

The faithful gathered at the “A” site; in Mr Poo’s front garden (read: abandoned car park) before the appointed hour where we donned our new special “Chinese New Year” t-shirt; sponsorship arranged by the Hare for this special occasion, thanks Sunspot (and Dusit). Resplendent in red, splashed with Chinese characters and the usual hash regalia, we were OFF with ‘measured haste’ towards Loi Kroh Rd. The first circle check was a bit too close to BUDDY Guest house for comfort but most were relieved when the trail moved West away from Buddy and towards the Garden Restaurant in a district peppered with guest houses, restaurants and small bars. We made our way towards Thapae Road, moved along on lots of powder due to expected heavy pedestrian traffic. More checks, some back checks etc but not too difficult to follow fortunately because of the cacophony in the district, we moved in closer to the target trail moving through Wororot market which was all decked out for the Chinese New Year celebrations, lanterns everywhere and throngs of visitors many dressed in their Chinese finery, and we, dressed in our Kung Hei Fatt Choi t-shirts, fit right in.

Meandering through the Chinatown area we finally hit the Ping river where powder became less clear but found on the tree trunks heading north towards the bridge over the river at Kaeo Nawarat Road. There was a back check under the bridge but that didn’t fool anyone except Space Invader who was racing around like a blue-assed fly anyway, just let him go… Crossing the bridge and down to the river frontage and under the bridge heading North but that came to nothing (FT I guess…) and the real trail proceeded South along the river’s edge with many pleasant, ‘local’ bars and restaurants. As we approached the new pedestrian bridge (to be finished soon…) connecting Wat Gate to Wororot Market, we came to find the first beer stop which despite the GM’s assurance was well-briefed in advance, were NOT prepared for 20-odd hashers showing up for a quick beer or two, the pack being ‘mostly together’.

It was here that the GM dislodged the fireworks he had been carrying in a small backpack and with the help of the local restaurateur, set off a round of firecrackers to celebrate CNY. There was also evidently more significant fireworks ready very near by for the sunset display which we were able to observe at the circle. The Hares really went out of their way with the fireworks but we had to move ON ON. From the drink stop, we moved East, through a few small alley ways and towards the back of Wat Ket Karam and along the road (Saraphi Rd/106?) along the river frontage along Riverside & Goodview restaurants back towards Thapae Rd obviously turning towards home. Along the river the trail took us to the On In which was on the East side of the Iron Bridge where the Hares arranged a second beer stop, this one being more substantial than the first, this being more-or-less the END of the trail. After some considerable indulging, the pack slowly made it’s way back to the “A” site where Tiptoe (injured and unable to do the trail) was patiently waiting with lots of cold beer for the pack. The official length of the trail as measured by the co-hare was 5.2kms. Even Superman was happy! (or maybe not…)

Circle called by the GM, and the usual offenders & sinners called in to be “close to” the ice. Alas, there were no big ice blocks to sit on as we usually do so the best we could do this time was to get the offenders to stand on or near existing crushed ice/cubes etc. As the sun was setting we did see and hear the fireworks go off (thanks Hares!)

ABB

Cuckold seems to like the area by the Sameong Road football field… He was enjoying a beer at a local bar as we showed up, wondering what he had in store. Pre-run, my only hope was that we didn’t have to climb the temple steps…. How soon do such aspirations fade?!?

The hare took a cane to bully us into a school boy hare brief – he would be sozzled, but was he sozzled already? We were pointed off, and rather than taking the usual river crossing, we had a little paddle (or foot spa). Paper was a little thin, but we managed to piece the trail together to the edge of the rice fields. They looked great! So different from last time I was there, someone is clearly putting some attention into them. I chose right, trying to spot paper in the distance… Nothing… When I finally saw powder it took me a moment to figure out we were on paper and powder. On on, and I was off with Lumber JO not far behind.

No checks through a couple of opportunities, and then powder straight up a steep climb. It was early days, so I decided to run it, and went into a small canyon / gorge? There was a circle check. It was a very strange place for a check. I was suspicious straight away. My gut said, go back, but being first there, I thought I should carry on. I started up the hill to the right, but then LJO cut in front and headed that way – he never came back… Instead I checked down to the left, facing off a fierce pitbull. Nothing there. Back up the hill, and I joined HRA as we tried to see where LJO had checked. Brownie came back down the hill, so we started exploring out into the plantation. No sounds apart from the odd “checking” or “RU?”. I got to the far side of the plantation, and kept scanning the horizon for paper – nothing. Poo called “RU?” from further away to my right. “Checking” was my forlorn reply. I realised there were no more “checking” calls from behind me, so headed back to the circle, which had already been kicked out. Muthafukas! I turned back to call Poo, and he was following me past the attack dog. An excellent check, where the acoustics just didn’t help the callers.

I turned the corner and could see 400-500m ahead, and no hashers. We were seriously behind. I pressed on, assuming Poo would be following at some point. Finally I caught Tiptoe, just before the trail took and ominous turn UP. This was a serious climb. Nearly 200m height gain, in a bit over a km. More importantly, WHERE WERE THE CHECKS??? I was off the back of the pack, and no checks to give me a chance to catch up. I passed junction after junction, and there were no checks… WTF? Was this a race or a hash? Pushing up the hill I picked off a visitor and HRA, chest exploding.

Finally a Wimp Rambo split… but it looked more like a Rambo / Lemming split as the walkers seemed expected to throw themselves off the side of a cliff – a new level of sadism for the hare? The trail continued to climb, but finally I could see some hashers ahead. There must be a check – it looked more like a picnic to me from a distance, but before I could get there, they were continuing further up the hill. Luckily I could settle into a gear and slowly move forward. My break came at another check, where the majority of hashers wanted to head further up to the right. It had to break left, so I followed Brownie down to the left.

We were on, and it was down… Brownie jumped out the way to let me past, and finally we could open up. I charged down, straight through one check, trying to guess where the hare would cut us across to the rubber wall. It was inevitable. I was wrong. I went left one junction too early. Fortunately Graven was powered by gravity and went straight on at the next, even though we could see powder heading through the resort. So the hare avoided the temple steps, but instead took us up the resort steps… I was growing weary, and I knew we were a long way from home.

Over the hill and down to the rubber fence, so obviously left that he didn’t even bother with a check. No chance this pack was getting back together. And then a RR/WR split? That wasn’t in the hare brief. I saw Graven & Brownie heading back up the hill, and opted to go around. LJO joined me, but then he took off as I tried to just keep jogging along at a steady pace. It wasn’t long before GI & BF came back from their little adventure up the hill and past me. It was a straight on in with no chance of checks, but the hare was waiting to poison hashers with a toxic juice not long before the finish.

A tough 7.75km run with a serious climb,,, I guess the hare was thinking, better to be too long than too short….