Today we had a virgin hare.
The first time one does most things is usually memorable, hopefully for right reasons.
And if one is really precocious (not I) that might even include one’s first birthday.
Well, Kate was blessed with good weather.
And a male chaperone who was also a real gentleman. That’s Ken, by the way, who knows all the hashing tricks of the trade and has a unit of length measurement to suit all occasions, so the hash is always just the right length.
The pub was the Russell Arms. Last time we tried to run from here, we were told that there was no room at the inn for our sort. On that occasion we had to relocate at short notice.
Not this time. The patrons welcomed us with open arms as the pub is now owned by the local community. In fact there is a hashing connection as one of the shareholders is Ade’s sister, who lives just down the road.
The setting (sun). These are the views that hashers never saw and haven’t seen for many a month.
For the rest of us we had the night.
At the start we welcomed back the skiing brigade who survived not only the slopes but Lawrence’s driving. In addition, Nickers completed her money laundering by smuggling wodges of euros about her person.
The long run was 5 miles, which, theoretically was less than that.
For the first stage we ran behind Ellesborough then joined the upper Icknield Way. You could sense the history, even though the path was paved.
At Great Kimble, Legolas (Hawkeye) and Bilbo (Nice butt dimmer) said that they would go on their own adventure while the rest of us accepted that we would have to storm Beacon Hill.
Running around Great Kimble Warren, we were treated to our own vistas, light pollution over Aylesbury and smiley faces on the ground. And on one occasion, an warning to take care on a stairway. The warning was timely as the pitch on steps did not lend itself to running downhill.
Heading back towards Ellesborough one could sense that there had been a lockdown party off to our right (Chequers) but we resisted the urge to join in. At Ellesborough, the pack desperately wanted to cross over the road, but they were left unrequited. The trail proper was sneakily arranged to double back on ourselves and head to Combe.
What was noticeable, being tail end Charlie was how often I saw Ant. What was equally noticeable was that Sarah nearly did as many on-backs as her man. What was even more noticeable was how colourful Livvy’s new shiny running shoes. A light to guide us in the dark?
So, we got back to the pub to find nobody. Both the shorts and the impromptu medium were missing.
The inbetweeners turned in short notice, leaving the shorts as missing in action. No amount of telephoning/ texting/shouting seemed to resolve the issue. Ten minutes later, the issue resolved itself when the two lost sheep walked sheepishly up the road. At least we didn’t have to organise a search party, as without Mr Eager, that might have been a protracted affair.
Thank you Kate for an excellent first hash complete with good beer at the bar. [and chips! ed.]