THEBIRDISTHEWORD
Entertaining and innovative though they Shirley were, the hare's grid word search on Facebook did not provide an account of Soapy and Melon Picker's excellent trail from the Star at Liverton on run #1978.
For the tiny band of words junkies out there, herewith are a few highlights of the Star's trail.
If
you had asked me Friday or Saturday, I would have hardly dared thought
it possible to make #1978.
However, my circumstances changed for the
better on Monday to enable making the relatively short excursion out to
Liverton.
A beautiful evening and no excuses for the fair weather hashers not to venture out.
The
list may not be complete, but I spotted these hashers at the circle:
Teapot, Piltown, Georgy, Forrest, Woodlend, Man-Pig, Pisswell, Beefy,
Strap-On, Strap Dancer, U Bend, Cheerio, Hornie, Pork Torpedo, Well
Hopped, Big End, Archangel, Shitfaced, Wetfart, Zoot, Hotlips, Smellie,
Palmolive, Polyfella, Beeflicker, Slip on Me, SatNav, Miss 'Inn
(Tamsin), Ernie and a gent who seemed to be with Zoot and Hotlips.
Roughly 31 or 32, I estimate.
There was talk of a
sweetie stop and marks in various media but the most important detail I
always listen for is the distance of the long. Six miles is a maximum,
any further and injury beckons. Tonight's long was (accurately)
predicted to be 5.5 - 6 miles so a full bank of green go lights.
Unless
I have a warm-up jog, lethargic is the dinosaur, and tonight was no
exception but not having run since the previous week's 7 mile epic from
the Monks Retreat, I wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary.
The
FRB's were away and gone before Man-Pig and I hit the main road, and
then the twinges in the knee started and MP receded into the distance.
Shuffled well to the rear, I teamed up with Forrest and Muttley and
progress was resumed albeit via walking and jogging.
Up ahead, two
black-attired hashers came into vision. I took them to be Well Hopped
and Big End, but as we closed, they turned out to be U Bend and Cheerio!
Should have gone to...
A long
gentle climb on tarmac got the lawnmower engine started again and I was
slightly more optimistic of continuing on the long.
A
hard a port junction and, just as I was climbing a gate, I caught a
fleeting glimpse of a red vested hasher in front. Ernie! Gotcha! and the
lawnmower revved furiously as the faded blue Archaeopteryx set off in pursuit.
A quarter of a mile later, the red vested figure was serenely drawing away - what?! It cannot be, Ernie on steroids?
From
an elevated position in the fields, I caught sight of a trail of
hashers crossing a mown field - HA! They all were going the long way
round - time to head 'em off at the pass, padre.
Blast
it! There was Beefy, born again FRB, with phone camera in hand, and he
had only spotted the SC'ing Bird and was taking aim -
whatamistakathebirdmada! The photographic evidence would later be presented
to the jury and gleeful would be the Birdbaiters. Sigh...
The
awful truth was revealed - it wasn't Ernie I had been chasing, it was
Polyfella, also red t-shirt attired, yes, really should have gone to..
Suddenly,
we found ourselves in the middle of Stover golf course and shorts and
longs had come together - Shirley a triumph for the hares so late in the
trail.
Back in business Bird threw in a sub 9 minute mile but Beefy followed effortlessly before pressing on for the sweetie stop.
The
FRB's comprising Big End, Well Hopped, Polyfella, Wood Lend, Man-Pig,
Beeflicker and Beefy had assembled and were rifling the sweetie bag.
We were close to the ranch house now and just the maze of paths through Stover park to navigate to earn a beer or two.
The Bird homing device failed miserably as I told Wood Lend it was left for the pub as he pointed right - and he was right!
A
brief melee ensued as hashers came back on themselves but the Bird saw
Man-Pig continuing and wisely headed for the exit. Five point five mies in
the bag and the knee twinges had gone - result!
Thank you hares, great trail.
It works!
ReplyDeleteThanks MP
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