Category Archives: Blog

Courtesy Alice:-

Cumalot and Boy Wonder Omsin wove a masterful trail of treachery and deceit in the hills and vales around the Canal Rd footy field.
I was feeling pumped and ready to really push myself, HIIT sessions in the bank and guilt from last night’s Yummy pizza extravaganza.
We were on small white strips, marked A1. Paper generally faced runners, circle checks were in clear sight and perfectly situated, it was time to challenge ChackWao and the rest!
At an early check I took the unlikely option away from the hills and ChackWao mentioned as such, although he added it has been used before. After 100m, a cleverly positioned strip revealed itself and I was on! The next few km were a carbon copy, as I nailed perhaps 5 out of 8 and managed to get a few hundred metres ahead of the pack. Making the most of my fortune, I pushed hard and managed to chose correctly second time around on the checks I got wrong.
We went up into the forest, three choices and I took the middle up. Right again and into deeper, more dense bush. I couldn’t hear the pack now. Trail went down into a dry stream bed then up a thick spur on narrow ill defined animal paths. Parts were runnable and parts that weren’t I bashed on as fast as I could.
A beastly check at a saddle after 30 mins had me take the brave option and head higher and steeper. I heard Chack yell OnOn and descended at a lick. To my surprise, he was still making his way up to the check so I chose one of the two main options and again that lovely little white strip with A1 popped out after a scampered 100m through the woods.
Here the trail became very narrow and often just bush bashed. Paper was harder to see and the hillside was dodgy with Poo sticks and rocks underfoot. I slid a few times but stayed upright. Apparently HRA crashed a couple of times and his posterior needed TLC tonight.
I was still ahead but it was hard work facing checks alone and just trying not to get caught. I crashed into a barb wire fence that was papered but only for us to run along. Chacky was closing and we came down off the hills towards some roofs below.
At the next junction he overtook me probably 600m from home! flew down the wide path then slowed and yelled Looking! I seized my chance and ducked right into a clearing. There was paper, a weir and thick, tall grass to wade through. I was passed yet again after a minute and the lanky Antipodean had glory flaring in his nostrils. Paper clearly marked trail ahead all the way to the road. There was one last chance the hares had some final magic up their sleeves with a False Trail where Chacky was headed….I turned left hoping against hope to find hidden paper and hear a forlorn False Trail call. My hopes were dashed as On In rent the air – I’d never catch the larrikin now.
Taking a chance I beetled down my path through the trees, parallel to the road, and Chacky’s calls. A sharp right and I was also out on the road but 30m back alas, and thus followed the seasoned Sandgroper over the finish line just shy of 45 mins I think.
A superb set with lowland trail, fields, forest, hills and a dry creek bed, oh and some barb wire. The hares were astute in their route and variety of twists and turns; I felt very pleased I’d risen to challenge them. Kudos to ChackWao for hunting me down. HRA, Sex Pistol, Sheep Shagger and Blows Herself steamed home in short order, ABB, Does Nothing, TipToe and finally long time returnee Baldrick stumbled in on a twisted ankle and a tale of lost trail.
Circle was light and fun, especially Shagless splashing DGI for knicker malfunction at Butter is Better, then the revenge splash had a Police citation complete with colour picture and 500 THB fine for carrying his helmet while driving his motorbike. Touche!

So Cuckold was the mystery co-hare! Remembering his history at Maejo, I was tempted to turn around and run, but had faith that ABB would keep him under control… We set off and the paper was a bit on the environmentally friendly side – not always straightforward to spot the next bit, and promptly running out at a junction. I peeled off to the right and finally the young eyes of None of Your Business spotted a circle check hidden behind leaves on the back of a tree (so I’m told, I didn’t see it!) I nearly gave up checking to the right, and when I turned back there was a flash of whitish paper on the back of a tree… I was ON!

There is a fork in the road, and no obvious paper, so I carried on the main road to the right. 50m or so later I spotted paper up the hill to the left on the other bit of the fork. I found a way to climb up and called as CW and the pack were catching up. We looped up the hill a bit, before descending through a little village – no checks, just a few dogs and kids to throw rocks at. A circle check gave some options. It was possible that it was a back check, but I thought we’d gone too far through the little village (whenever ABB is hare, I’m looking out for backchecks!). It couldn’t be right, so I turned left. Nada, which left the straight option, which would have been straight off the cliff, headed towards the saddle. I headed in that direction, and sure enough paper – good luck to whoever had to lay paper straight off the cliff from that check!

I had told myself to take it steady today, as I want to do a longer run tomorrow, so I idled my way over the saddle. Paper was in places good, but then in others there could be 20m+ between strips. I got to a bit where I couldn’t find any paper, so eventually assumed there was a check hidden away somewhere. NOYB showed up and I headed down to the little dried up dyke and mud road. NOYB found paper just as I found a circle, and he lead a few other runners down the hill towards me. Turned right on the road, and after 100m or so spotted paper on the trail the other side of the dyke. Found a place to hop over, and carried on with Sheep Shagger kicking the circle out behind me.

Another junction, and paper leading straight on past it – Sorry ABB, I’m not falling for that! Sure enough I could call On as CW got to the corner behind me. Again – paper to the right, no chance! I think I nailed 3-4 back checks in a row, and perhaps that split the pack as CW and I didn’t hear anyone else again. Trail was tough to figure out in places, and one stretch through the nursery it had clearly been taken down – fortunately we had a good idea where we were headed and picked up trail leaving the main entrance. Again trail tough to follow through shiggy, but it had to be headed towards the mainer trail by the other shelter. Having seen paper on the drive in, we had to be headed towards it, so a 50/50 circle. I was wrong, CW was right, but I caught him up at another back check.

We crossed over the road into the main Tiger’s Head forest, and I was sure we’d be headed parallel with the road back, as surely this was already going to be a long run. A circle here took some solving with CW and I checking several options each. Finally he called it and I headed towards his call, not entirely sure where the check was now. I rejoined trail and caught him up at another check. Damn we were headed deep into the forest – this was going to be a long, long run! That next check screwed me up, as it wasn’t a back check, but I went up 2 possible trails that were wrong trying to make my way towards CW’s call. One of them had yellow paper neatly marking the way, but sadly it was old paper.

The trail was leading inevitably towards the hill – you had a choice hares, you could have gone around it! I was on my own, CW somewhere ahead, the pack should have been behind. Keep going, keep going. On the ridge, I jogged along, and finally found CW coming back from checking the wrong way. WTF? It had to be left! Surely? We were at the 5 trail junction, and the obvious way back was down into the gully and out… It wasn’t and again, very good job to the hares – several times, even late into a run you outfoxed me with checks. CW called it, and I trailed him back home. As I ran in, I was expecting to tell the hares that they might have to wait a long time for the rest of the pack to get there – instead, I found most of the pack sat down tucking into a beer! WTF? Everyone else had given up and short cut back?!? Shame on you!!! The 2nd half of the run was marked much more clearly, and the whole thing was a great set – a very tough 8.8km – I guess I don’t need to do a long run tomorrow!

Lonely Fly By

On Alice, by Alice…

The A site was swiftly changed when a dead dog was found in the abandoned building. Frozen wondered whether the 2m cobra was responsible….and all in all a move across the valley seemed sensible.
Turkey sidled up eyes gleaming, “I saw your paper!” he confided in the manner of a naughty schoolboy. So the Turk had arrived early to recce. Humph. More evidence for the case against the accused.
The pack were running on white paper dipped in blue octopus blood aka Sheep Shagger’s old printer ink. Alice had held up a strip of Blow’s Herself’s yellow just to wind things up a tad!
And they’re off! Into the overgrown path around the little lake they went, apart from the Turk who scampered up the in trail, found paper the wrong way and yelled On On as he disappeared into the wild, green yonder in reverse.
Luckily Frozen Dick espied a potential path from the tricky circle in the gulley with various spur and streambed options. HRA went past and found true trail loud and clear. Turkey’s fading calls from the wrong direction had confused matters and alarmed the hares. Thankfully no one followed the heir of Anatolia.
Up the side of the hill went the pack with a circle on top. A late arrived ChackWao and Turkey ascended from another path but soon located trail and walkers. Left was on on and then down, down, down a narrow hillside path to the lakes property.
Here things got interesting. HRA and Lars found paper up the hill and followed around the forest edge. The false trail stopped them in their dainty tracks and wiped out any advantage. Turkey looked down in the river bed ravine and spied paper, allegedly. Here the story gets confused with Turkey claiming complete success on all further checks, Vs and FTs to arrive home first in 46 mins. Chack and the rest swore blind they never saw a glimpse of TD from then on and the weight of evidence is probably in favour of the majority. The Turk did describe the V check on the saddle – mountain pass in Superman’s lingo – but how he got there remains known only to the Turk and his maker.
The rest of the pack descended into a long sandy creek bed emerging in the centre of the property. A circle went right and around the edge of the forest on a well runable path. Suddenly a turn into the forest back from a FT soon after another circle. Along a wet streambed the pack stumbled, sandy, rocky and quite scenic. From here Chack Wao escaped when the trail became a clear path, rocky and uneven in places, up it climbed, turning and twisting towards a main left right trail. Paper went left to a circle 40m away. There was straight on the main path, left back into the forest or right up a steep gully in the facing hillside. Chack tried all three, assisted by Shrek before ABB simply emerged, turned right and found paper 50m from the junction. From then on it was all downhill. ABB’s internal gyroscope was functioning well and after Chack’s arrival a few minutes after TD, ABB swiftly followed by HRA hove into view. Kwaz appeared from 180 degrees the other direction like a sprite borne on a scented zephyr, and admitted knee pain made him turn left once over the hill and trudge back along the road. Sheep Shagger came home loaded with rocks again and Shrek grimaced as he told of lessons learnt that checks aren’t always 180 infront. Does Nothing strode in then the famous jungle call announced Frozen and his buddy Tiptoe and soon we were settling down to social drinking, the usual bickering, a good natured circle and the hash song closed events at site. OnOnOn was at Grill of India, everyone enjoyed except the GM.

(Courtesy Alice)

Sheep Shagger was flying solo in the hills behind the Samoeng Rd footy pitch and he not only took off without assistance and flew scenically around but landed safely although not on the right runway!

The A site was a very decent shelter away from our usual haunt so that added something to the run. Luckily the weather was fab so we didn’t need the cover at all. Good to see Softballs back and the average age was much reduced by Spitz Spunk and Just Jeff.

We were running on playing card sized white squares and Sheep Shagger said he’d taken any other paper down he’d seen. Oh how we regretted that blatant fib! Back checks were 3 pieces stapled together and Falsies were No Sheep signs. All well and good. On on.

Off we went heading up a familiar hill. An early check had me in a field to the right with paper hanging under a tree. Long yellow paper and long white strips. No probs, old shit. Chacky and the Turk were blazing trails, Spitz was in the van and the checks had us bunched. The Kwaz was motoring and Frozen was striding out at back of pack.

A bit higher up the hill, we dropped a few stitches. A check had us struggling and we were heading steeply up as On On was called. Paper was sparse but looked fresh. The issue was that it was KnockOut paper, the same length but half a cm narrower.
Paper disappeared but we spread out to solve the mystery….in vain.. and bashed on up the steep winding path where KO had the beer stop. The pack weren’t happy at this point and a tad confused. What was the hare up too?

CW and TD scouted further and found current paper leading up from another route from the right to join our path. Result! We were on again. Running round below the curved summit of a hill we came to a V which threw us all. Right went on then totally stopped. Left went on…then a bar was spotted. We piled back down the right track, there was a very long gap without paper, and a spur down and right was suddenly clearly marked….then again nothing. It just stopped. I went down and further. Others retraced and found a circle I think in the forested summit. It was all a bit hit and miss at this point. The pack were doing good impressions of heads up their arses chickens.

Alice carried on around under the summit to join up with the guys shouting Circle Check from above. On on was called going right and here we had the best part of the run. High trails, trees, views, and good checks. At one Turkish arrived first and ordered Chacky down the less attractive left option. TD went right and Alice saw him about 100m away, silently checking and refusing to respond the “Turkey, Are you?” Chacky was on and we flew down the path to catch him at the next circle. Turkish arrived after Alice and Jeff and the Son of Anatolia neglected happily to break the circle. The guy does play a different game to the rest of us.

A Falsie slowed the loping Aussie as he hadn’t listened at harebrief. Three small squares does not a very clear check back bar make. Down we cantered around the hill on lovely trails to a huge R and arrow pointing left up a trail. Sheep Shagger here was definitely trying to be clever, or too clever. It worked! Again 3 or 4 clear papers then nothing. Or nothing we could see. Frustration. Tiredness. The R was so clearly marked. Push on.

The FRBs explored further and a few hundred metres on around found a False Trail sign and out trail paper, which we followed back in, harrumphing and discussing WTF.

Only Spitz and Father Abraham himself ABB, actually found a check back bar 20m past the R sign and returned to the 4 way and went right on the true R trail. We spied them coming back on an impressive looking path half way up the huge quarry wall. Does Nothing, Kwaz and Softballs came in on true walkers’ trail and it was time for a well earned circle of fun. Federbrau proved too tempting for Alice as well as Kwazi’s Decathlon throne when the NY native was on ice.

Fine trails and good scouting from the Shagger of Sheep. Sod’s law we found very similar but recent paper. Suggest check main routes off circles for 120m and rip down anything. Or mark your paper. Checkback bars needed to be longer and clearer, the shitty ink on Falsies was no problem apart from having to stop to make out the funny image. A fun run, excellent use of terrain and trails and a friendly OnOnOn in Fajitas Tex Mex.