RUN NO. 2237
DATE: 5 JULY 2011
SITE: KM 22.2 COASTAL HIGHWAY
HARES: Possum/Trailblazer/Briony
FRONT HORN: Call Girl BACK HORN: Never Wrong
Hashing - I've heard about it for years, but never got around to finding out what it entails personally. An acquaintance's subtle explanation back then gave me a rough idea: "You enter the jungle or some sort of trail with a bottle of water, and you exit with cans of greens or blues." A few years later this week, I finally found out for myself. And boy, what took me so long?!
Site was along the Coastal Highway on 5th July... directions from numerous sources mentioned it being opposite UBD, but that was a little misleading considering how it was more like 2km further down. But I finally found it without having to do a U-turn; inside, I saw cars with ladies wearing running gear standing outside them, and knew I was at the right place.
My tiny car wedged its way through the side of two strategically placed massive puddles near the entrance. My first thought was, "OMG, is this thing going to be a wet one?" But I pressed on; my car was already halfway through the second massive puddle, and there was literally no space to turn for a swift exit; all the other cars parked at the side made it impossible. No chickening out now.
Met a couple of the ladies, Smurf and Madam Sin; ladies of leisure I've had the pleasure of meeting one too many times at a certain establishment. They told me to register, cough up my $10, and find a veteran to run with. They suggested Satu Lagi, since she's fit and I'm fit. Don't know how the latter came to mind; I haven't run through any rough terrain, or at all, in years. My weekend sailing could probably be a contributing factor, but I hardly do any running for that!
I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into, but Satu Lagi was already raring to go. She ran in, I ran in. Less than two minutes later, my run slowed down to a jog, and finally to an exhausted walk. Already! I was half disappointed in myself. I need to do this more often!
A lot of bright pinks overtook me; the HASH letters strewn all over their shirts tells me that they've done this before. Just you wait... I'll be like you soon enough, with all your running and not sweating that much!
I don't remember much of the trail, other than a massive longkang we had to cross, having to walk alongside aforementioned massive longkang and to not fall to our deaths (I have now developed a new fear of falling to my death into massive longkangs thanks to this trail)... and not forgetting all the long grasses. We lost the trail at some point, but Satu Lagi found it again, and we went ahead... we strolled along the beach sand, proud for being the first to find the paper that would, we assume, lead us back to the tent. A few others overtook us, but ahhh... that's ok... I'll get you next time.
Some minutes later, found a bunch of the runners sipping on a cup of fruit punch at a little hut near the finish. And sure enough, Trailblazer was there. Surely it wasn't just fruit and punch whenever she's around, right? I had my boost to run the short incline up to the tent. And I was spent.
But oh, that wasn't the last of it. Since it was my first time, I had to do some sort of initiation. Aware of my post-run-no-shower situation, I was glad there were three other newbies with me. We introduced ourselves. The ladies deemed our introduction worthy and sang us a song, and told us to consume our beverage. And finally, it was done! We're officially in the Hen House Harriers!
Later on after dinner (of buns and traditional American chow of sausages and beans), Satu Lagi and I helped Possum light up fireworks to commemorate the 4th of July. Secretly, I thought it was to honour my first hash run. Thank you, ladies! On on...
NEXT RUN: DST
HARES: Trailblazer/Psycho/Dizzy
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment