投稿日: Jul 23, 2015 12:12:45 AM
Scribe:Tim Man
Theme: River, Stream & Sea
Hares: Sweetie, Dragonfly, Chotte-Matte-Ne
Start Time: 15:00
Start Location: Car park, Zushi station
Weather: Good, warm and cloudy with sunny spells
Runners: 40 (approx.)
Run Type: A to B
Runners gathered in the car park at Zushi Station and were treated to some entertainment during their warm-up from the antics of drivers attempting to squeeze their vehicles into tiny spaces while avoiding our circle. And then we were off. Pre-start advice was “if in doubt, follow the water”, except that we were in the middle of the town with not a drop in evidence. Nonetheless, the hounds soon picked up the trail with Cliff Hanger and Lolita Bastard setting a swift early pace. The first check points barely slowed the pack and, lo and behold, we soon found ourselves running along the coast road with the sea (water, water, everywhere) on our right as we headed towards and through Hayama Harbour. Cliff Hanger and Lolita Bastard continued to lead the field followed by your scribe and several fast women (?!), including Frenchie and a Malaysian virgin. The trail turned uphill and it was at this point that the going got tough, at least for those following the Eagle course. Up and up we went and the trail grew narrower and narrower until it reached a dead end, marked by the dreaded CB. Check back! And so we re-traced our steps all the way back to the main road and re-joined the rest of the pack that had, by now, caught up. It was a pattern to be repeated for the rest of the run. The leaders would pull ahead, turn uphill, straining muscle and sinew until they were inevitably confronted by another CB, and then back down to re-join the pack, keeping us all pretty much together. Those who did all the CBs ended up running nearly 14 km, the following group on the Eagle course avoided most of the uphill sections and covered a little over 11 km. And those who opted for the Turkey trail clocked up around 8 km or so. Smart hares!
Goal was Ishii-san’s place, where cold beer awaited and was thirstily guzzled. Everyone gathered for the circle and to name a few virgin hashers (“Never Enough”, we now know who you are!). Mojitos followed in short order as chicken, shrimp, beef, corn, potatoes, pumpkins grilled on the barbecue. Artichokes from Ishii-san’s garden grown from seeds brought back (smuggled?) from Italy by Dragonfly provided a delicious pièce de resistance. And, all too soon, it was dark and time to catch the bus back to Zushi station. The pack, by now well inebriated, was a perhaps little too rowdy during the journey and we were duly rebuked by the driver. On alighting at our destination, Santa Maria took a tumble and there was blood to add to our sweat and toil (fortunately, he suffered no real harm or there would have been tears, too). Somehow, it seemed a fitting end to a memorable day!