投稿日: May 21, 2015 11:41:18 AM
Cherry Blossom Easter Sunday Run
Hare: Cliff Hanger
Start Time: 14:30
Start Location: Kinugasa
Weather: Thank goodness it didn’t rain….
Run Type: A-A
After Cum Lauder and I arrived at Kinugasa station a few minutes before the start of the Hash we began to feel like we may have misunderstood the start time as there were no hashers to be seen anywhere. After a while we found an arrow and followed an arrow here and an arrow there away from the station. Walking briskly through a quite neighborhood, we were finally greeted by some familiar smiling faces under beautiful sakura in full bloom.
After a short explanation of the hash and what we could expect along the way, we all set off. On-On we headed what seemed oddly enough back toward the station. All too easy for the first half of a kilometer, so we were thinking…. Was Cliff Hanger going to take it easy on us??? I had my doubts as I thought back to his insisting that Cum Lauder and myself make sure we didn’t miss “his” hash. Very shortly after, my doubts were confirmed and in a big way…
Turning away from the straight main road we began to get onto some smaller roads and reached the first of many checkpoints. After a bit of confusion the group was able to find the On-On up a typically cute and narrow Japanese street. All still seemed pretty easy and then everything changed just like that. The first big hill loomed before us. This was the beginning of a trend for sure. Up into a beautiful park and back down into the neighborhood below. Hills, stairs, stairs and more stairs and hills began from this point on. With a handful of many dastardly check backs and false trails (which were pretty brilliant looking back on it) we had to be close to the end right???
Somehow in the Hare’s mind, he thought it might be a good idea to take us up what may have been the largest hill we had climbed all afternoon around 8km into the run. Thankfully this path up the hill was lined with beautiful cherry trees blooming with pink and blue lanterns strung along the path. The annual sakura matsuri in the area provided one of the best hash backgrounds I have seen for sure. This did not make the climb any easier unfortunately though.
Amazingly as we neared the end, the group of hashers were all very close together thanks to a great job by the Hare. I am pretty sure the first in and the final ones in were only separated by 10 minutes or less. Beer Near was finally spotted after about 1 hour and 45 minutes by the front-runners much to their satisfaction. As we all funneled back to the start of the hash, we were all met by the hare, who had somehow transformed himself into an Easter bunny.
During the circle we enjoyed some great beer and snacks and a general feeling of happiness of surviving perhaps the most demanding hash in my experience with 4H. Was the overly demanding course payback for the difficult rainy February Hash that Frenchie and myself were responsible for??? Or was it a testament to how extreme the Hare actually is or what his name suggests?
After a few beers out of a suitcase with ice in it at the circle and then descending down into a cozy little restaurant, it didn’t seem to matter anymore how demanding the run may have been. The good food and drink kept coming much to the hasher’s delight. But the Hare saved his best move of the day for last. Up the Easter bunny’s sleeve he brought to Good On Top, a wonderful surprise birthday cake. Well played indeed by our Hare as was the entire hash event.
Hats off I think we would all agree who were in attendance, to the Hare for his thought and time into putting together a great run with some nice scenery, challenging trail and great On-On.