Run 707 Phantom .... Urban run Taunton

Just two witches swoop  in…maybe a little late…. but we don’t like to disappoint!  Unfortunately the third is still suffering from an ankle injury, but hopes to be back to fitness soon, obviously not go the potion right yet, but it’s difficult laying your hands on ‘eye of newt’, these days.  

 We are told to get a move on and stop faffing about – as if we would, so just manage to join the group as on on is called.  No hare with us, she must be either heating up the chilli or being a very brave live hare…  I wouldn’t risk it with Ferret in the pack!  

We head up towards Greenway Road and on on called down a little footpath to the left, taking us around the back of Taunton School.   On-on called again and again as we wend our way towards the railway bridge and up and over into Chip Lane.  I check left, obviously its right..  Over Staplegrove Road and then a left turn along the back of St James Cemetery (being a witch I have to point out the important landmarks!)  A few more twists and turns and we are running around French Weir Park, a fantastically well laid trail leads us all around the park, through the Willow Cathedral  and then around the back of SCAT and on to Silk Mills Road.  

We cross over by Tytherleigh House and more footpaths lead us around another park area (not sure what it’s called).  At this point talk turns to midnight streaking … We’ll obviously not be seeing the two new hashers again - I would imagine they must be running for the hills as we speak!  

We then finally come out onto Netherclay Road.  An impromptu is called as the group had become rather strung out and two hashers were reported missing… Big Bird and Withy…last seen in tall grass…. where can they be?  We wait….. finally they arrive, wondering what all the fuss is about and denying all knowledge of any untoward behaviour…   I believe somebody mentioned something about a bird nesting in the withy hedge, but I had nothing to do with such banter….

We all cross Silk Mills Road, some lanes and paths take us to the Park and Ride, we streak across the car park (it must be nearly midnight!) and now seem to be retracing our steps, the hare had obviously been cleverly resetting the trail.  A small group of us eventually end up in Chip Lane again, but found we had lost the main pack, we assumed they had been sneaky and taken a short cut, but they eventually  appeared, something about wrong turn, etc. etc…  We cut back across a little park,  Grasshopper could obviously smell the chilli at this point as he high kneed off into the distance.  The locals tried to scare us with their howling and cat calls, but hashers are built of sturdy stuff and undeterred we romped home to a fantastic spread laid on by Phantom.   

Thank you hare a great run and lovely food.

Run 706 - Grasshopper Kingston st Mary

Run 705 - Tenzing The Rising Sun Knapp

  

Hounds:- Bangkok, M`Bongo, DITW, Gymslip, WAM, WhyBother, Pink2Lips, Floater, Paul, Chunky, Martini, JustBull, BigBird, Phantom, Ferret, Liz, Withy and GrassHopper..

Tenzings hash from the Rising Sun at Knapp commenced with a game of `Car Park Tetris`, this involves trying to tessellate (my word of the week) different sized vehicles into a rectangular car park of limited volume.  This was heading for a high scoring round until WAM screeched in with seconds to go and `abandoned` her car at a 45 degree angle completely destroying any symmetry that had been lovingly  organised.  This invoked a comment from Tenzing that was very brave seeing as there was a fair amount of female hashers present.

Off out of the car park and immediately we have a sit down protest at the first muddy stile by Pink2Lips, this holds up the hashers behind but then we are off in earnest, across the fields watched by a small  herd of cows and then into the Maize fields, faster runners using the rows like lanes of a motorway.

An impromptu stop halfway across the maize while the back markers catch up, Withy silhouetting himself into Martini’s photo of the setting sun.  More fields and cows and then back onto the road towards our start point, slight pause while we find the right path and then we are off again across more fields, no cows this time but an aerial display of low flying helicopters and a discussion on whether it was cool or not to wave at them.

Regroup in the corner of a field and its make the most of what little light there is to scoff the sweets.  A few sour faces (sweets that is) and we are off again, an aerodynamically restyled Ferret leading the way, torches start to make an appearance and there is some confusion in one of the fields on whether the new looking galvanised gate is the private entrance to someone’s garden or the proper path.  The leading hashers opt for discretion and carry on across the field to the old field gate, while the hare points the majority in the right direction.

ON INN appears on the road and its back to the pub, the extremely local cider is sampled by a fair few of the hashers.  Chunky obviously found this hash incredibly easy as she hadn’t even raised a `glow` (ladies glow, men perspire, horses sweat and certain male hashers leak like a sieve) as she opted not to change out of her running kit, or maybe she just forgot her change of clothes.

Another fine hash through the villages of Somerset.

Run 704 - Brush Off Dunster

Words to follow ...........