Run No. 126 - 30th April 2005 - Report
Have you ever felt the ecstasy of running out in the rain when it is pouring elephants (cats and dogs are too tame!), without being labeled as CRAZY?? NO?? Well, then you are definitely not a Hasher. Specially not the Mombasa Hash House Harrier.
Last Saturday saw the great Swank Hash Group in its true element. Starting from the quiet HQ pub, the trail set by Hare Sylvia “H&L”, assisted by Fina, traversed the good, better and the Worst of Mtwapa Hashtituency, for once without it’s perpetual dust. The lanes were sticky and gooey; perfect settings for slipping and tripping and dripping at one go!
The run was a combination of surprises and some familiar landmarks. No luck this time round with mysteries, as the forest was off-limits as no trail went through it. Skirting the Grandmaster’s Black Dog Inn, without touching the sea and the sand, the trail still gave a full watery experience with the myriad lakes that dotted the route, reflecting the Hashman’s sky in its full colour --- grey and black, imparting a near drowning feeling. It was all water; from the top, sides and bottoms. Pouring, running and splashing. Each one of the pack was drenched to his/her bones and the shouts of On-On, were drowned by the thunderous power-point needles of rain, much to the amusement of the wise owls sheltering under shop canopies and watching the Hash in action.
Much to the chagrin of the pack, there was no Singing in the Rain. Running in the Rain itself was good enough , so decided the ACTING Grand Master. After a few bad checks and washed out marks, the trail finally emerged on to the comic town-village side show that Mtwapa is. Turn to port and you are in a township without greenery. Turn to starboard and you are in a vibrant village, with al the trimmings… farms, goats, cows and all their by-products, and the ever present Mnazi dens, every mango tree laden with fruit and Cashews in bloom, and other herbage smells mingling with effluents from doubtful sources and… and so on..
But that is what Hashing is all about. Being generous to smells and oblivious to sights except the trail marks!!!!!!
A superbly soaked run in the Rain.