Out with the old....

OK, so it wasn't quite the hottest day of the year, but it was warm enough for us to leave off our woolly underwear and doff our jumpers. Storm clouds had just obscured the sun as we set off, and the bit of cooling rain that fell on the last run/walk of 2013 was very welcome.

The hardy souls who made it in from the sticks to the city were rewarded by being able to polish off the last of the Christmas champagne after a stroll along and over the river.  Eweshggr received a bottle of beer that seemed to have been named especially for him.  George showed off his new haircut, and all 4 of the hash pooches who were there held a macrame competition using their leads. All in all, it was a good evening to round off a year whose Hash highlights included

• Le W*nk's paddle in polluted Kedron Brook
• The Tenterfield German beer fest
• The Girls' Weekend in Sydney
• A Pearl Wedding Anniversary
• The Mother Superior Award ceremony
• A Tanabata run
• The 2013 Bastille Day run
• "Dag and Drag" Christmas in July
• Offshore runs and walks in Tuscany
• The 2013 Red Dress run

These are, of course, but a few of the memories from this year. Every week has been special in its own way (aaaah....)

Our first outing for 2014 will be a village run from John Scott Park. Bring along all those Christmas and New Year leftovers for a potluck dinner. Who'll have the greenest cold turkey?

Finally, for those who couldn't get enough of Le W*nk's Christmas cracker jokes, here are just a few more...

What do angry mice send each other at Christmas?

Cross Mouse Cards!

What's the most popular Christmas wine?

'I don't like Brussels sprouts!'

Why don't penguins fly?

Because they're not tall enough to be pilots!

Which football team did the baby Jesus support?

Manger-ster United!

What do you call a deer with no eyes?

No Idea!

What do you call a girl with a frog on her head?

Lily!

Next run details

When: Sunday 5th January, 5 pm

Where: John Scott Park, Samford Village

Hares: M. Promptu will set the run; Potluck will cater (please bring along something to share)

Note: no Wednesday run this week - it's New Year's Day!

On, on!

Field and fountain, moor and mountain....

Moors are a bit hard to come by in West End, but our hares managed to find enough mountainous bits to satisfy the most demanding magus; and the drinking fountains we passed were very welcome. Once again, Where's the Beef? and In Your Dreams set a scenic well-marked trail through some interesting and unfamiliar territory. They followed it up with some triffic chili and salad - plus red velvet cupcakes! Great stuff, and thanks!

No doubt about it: pre-Christmas runs are usually hot, and this one was no exception. If you choose to go running at this time of the year in a thick fur coat...well, what can you expect? George's collapse had us all worried. It turns out that he was suffering from heat stroke (the vet could find no evidence of tick bite.) The latest news is that the patient is resting quietly at home after spending a night in hospital. In future he'll be unzipping his furry jumpsuit and leaving it in his locker while he exercises.

Here are a few shots from this week - thanks to our photographers.  The Hash Femmes who were not gainfully employed on Wednesday enjoyed a pre-Christmas lunch at the Broncos:

And Secret Santa paid us a another visit after the Sunday run.  Here are the pictures that are fit to be shown in public:

No Wednesday run/walk this week - although it probably would help us process that turkey and Christmas pud....For those who can make it (it is a very busy time of year) we'll have another Big Smoke run this coming Sunday. The last run of the year! Came round fast, didn't it?

Next run details

When: Sunday 29th December, 5 pm

Where: Vegemite and Evacuate's pad in Petrie Terrace

Hares: Culture and Haughty

(If you need directions to this run, please email us.)

On, on!

Exclusive scoop: Hares remain married!

A year ago we celebrated Jamesbondage and Redbreast's 50th wedding anniversary. It was champagne all round again this Sunday to celebrate their 51st, and a crowd of over 30 hashers and guests heeded the "Free booze!" call.

The well-marked trails for both runners and walkers provided a good mix of bush and burb settings plus a few gentle gradients to stretch calf muscles and lung capacities. Thanks, hares - great trail, great meal - and free booze! What more could anyone want?

It was good to welcome Le W*nk's son on a visit from New Zulland - and, judging from the look of her, it won't be too many weeks before we'll be welcoming Hardcore's son (or daughter) from Storkland.

There'll be more champagne this coming Sunday (we'll make Christmas the excuse this time, and, heck, we've got to do something with the money in Hash Cash....) As suggested in the circle, we'll also exchange some Secret Santa goodies. Make them unisex ones, to the value of about $10,  please.

And finally, as promised, here are some more shots of the snappy Samford Red Dressers:

 

Next run details

When: Sunday 22nd December, 5 pm

Where: Where's the Beef? and In Your Dreams' pied-a-terre in West End

Hares: Where's the Beef? and In Your Dreams

Remember: please bring a Secret Santa something... and if you need directions to this run, please email us.

On, on!

Samford Hash goes All The Way!

A number of shortcutters were observed on this year's Red Dress Run - but no Samford Hash members were among them. Our running group (which on this occasion included some folk who normally walk) did run the whole 7 point something kilometres, and the walkers completed the whole walk too.

We could also be proud of our fashion flair, showing off our stunning sense of style as usual. Mile High stood out this year - his fishnets provided a  particularly fetching finishing touch to a very slick outfit.

The route included the traditional key locations - King George Square and the Queen Street Mall - but also took us through a rather tony hotel foyer, to the bemusement of staff and guests. We attracted the normal modicum of cat calls and wolf whistles as we threaded through the city centre...nothing out of the ordinary for some of our members, but pretty heady stuff for others.

Here's a before shot, taken at the Caxton as we charged our stocks of precious bodily fluids:

And here's a shot of some of us (looking fresh as daisies, if not fresher) at the journey's end:

More pics to follow in future posts!

The day before this glam event, we celebrated Mile High's birthday in Samford, with a M. Promptu run, a mile-high cake, and champers all round!

How old is he? Word is that the digits (when subjected to a numerological manipulation) add up to 4 - so is it 13? 40? 85? 130? Whatever it is, he runs pretty well for his age....

The Wednesday run/walk continues to attract numbers, and for the last couple of weeks we have gone on for a very tasty feast at the Samford Indian restaurant.

Next run details

When: Sunday 15th December, 5 pm

Where: Meet at the corner of Bunya Road and Collins Road (at the point where Bunya Road makes a right angled bend) The map makes it clear....On, on at the hares' place.

Hares: Jamesbondage and Redbreast

On, on!

Hashcation

As promised, here is Where's the Beef?'s report on his recent Excellent Adventure in South East Asia. What a great trip!

It all started with a suggestion from a fellow Hasher from Tokyo Ladies Hash House Harriers who now lives between Tokyo and Singapore.  Sushi, aka Dead Fish, mentioned how great the 75th Anniversary Run of the Mother Hash in Kuala Lumpur on November 9th would be.  I couldn't turn down the opportunity to attend.  

First off was a pre-lube run with the Singapore Harriettes with yet another trail in the soon to be decommissioned Bukit Brown Chinese Cemetery.  A nice dinner followed at the "Red Lantern," a regular Hash hangout for the Singaporean runners.  The following night Sushi and I had to have a strategy meeting at BrewWerkz, a Singapore Microbrewery with a new branch in the Dempsey Hill section of Lion City.  We did our best to empty their supply of IPA in between the very Chinese Malay dishes of garlic fries and buffalo wings.  Luckily there was a branch of Jumbo Seafood around the corner and we did away with some chili crab.  

I found my way up to KL and the Royal Selangor Club where buses awaited us to take us to the quarry that was to be the run site of the 75th.  We had our choice of a walking trail, an 8km trail through "primary jungle" (whatever that means) and a runners' trail of 15km.  I chose the appropriate trail but unfortunately did not make it back to the down down in time to enjoy some of the whole roasted pig that awaited.  And with a 1000 hungry hashers there I was not surprised to miss out.  Plenty of Tiger Beer helped to wash down the roast duck, dim sum and Indian curries that were still available.  

After a recovery I made my way up to Penang and managed to hook-up with the Penang H3.  And I'm not sure I was glad that I did.  Their trail was 90 minutes of steamy agony in what must have been the definition of primary jungle.  I did not run at all on trail.  Just fought my way through dense underbrush up and down ravines.  The local runners thought the trail easy.  I was just happy to make it back to the circle.  Which was quite enjoyable and they were a great group.  Tiger Beer was again in plentiful supply and this time we enjoyed a catered dinner of Indian food.  And I even managed to get a lift back to Historic Georgetown from a fellow hasher.

Not much else doing in Georgetown so I made my way up to Chiang Mai to see the tigers at Tiger Kingdom.  Something I would recommend to anyone to add to their bucket list.  It was certainly on mine.  I also managed to fit in a run with the local Chiang Mai Hashers at a newly built resort about 90 minutes outside the city.  The trail had some problems and several runners ran into us going the wrong way.  Typical hashers.  Unfortunately, one of these hashers, Pinky, from Australia as well as the Lion City H3, managed to get lost again while only a kilometer from the down down.  Her poor husband had to go back out on trail and she didn't show up for another hour.  

From Thailand I flew up to Hanoi and got one more Hash in with the Hanoi H3.  It was another long bus ride out of the city with far too many hashers on the un-airconditioned vehicle.  The solution on the way back was of course to bring as much beer as possible on the bus to keep everyone cool and happy.  They did a great 10km trail through the Vietnamese countryside with rice paddies aplenty and more water buffaloes than you could shake a stick at.  Which the local farmers were happy to do to keep them away from us. Or was it to keep us hashers away from the buffaloes?  

In any case, from there I flew down to Singapore and thought long and hard about doing a St. Andrew's Day run with Lion City H3 but was a little concerned about making my flight out at 1130 pm and getting the airport in time following a hash.  Next time... 

Be warned! Where's the Beef? and In Your Dreams will be our hares in a couple of week's time - and he'll be applying some of the things he learnt on this trip....

On, on!

Amazing birthday run

Amazing's birthday run took twenty-something of us along sections of Kedron Brook we haven't visited for a while. The route was lined with placards aimed at embarrassing her - but what could have matched the embarrassment of having Le W*nk break in through security at her place of work loaded with armfuls of flowers?

Here she is, cutting her cake.  After her birthday down, down she obviously can't remember which hand to hold a knife in:

And here she is with her greatest fans - and evidence she's not as young as she looks:

Thanks to Le W*nk, Amazing and the two Georges for the run and a great meal!

Where's the Beef became the latest of our overseas travelers to return to our shores.  He's been on an intense Hashcation. This means that over the last couple of weeks he has run with hashes in Penang, Singapore, Chang Mai and I don't know where else. He also (the highlight of his trip) took part in the 75th Anniversary Run at the Mother Hash in KL.  Look for his full report in a future post....

He and In Your Dreams brought along one of the 3 desserts on offer - Japanese cream puffs - for a game of Cream Puff Roulette. Which of these innocent-looking items contained the deadly dose of wasabi?

Here's the reunited couple, watching expectantly for All To Be Revealed:

Here's Eweshggr, reminding us that we have somehow missed celebrating St Andrew's Day this year. Hoots, mon!

And here's Payback, after he was attacked by a mountain bike last week:

This year's Red Dress Run is on Monday 9th December at the Caxton Hotel, Petrie Terrace - 6 pm for a 6:30 pm start:

The cost is $15, payable on registration at the start.  Think of it as a fun way of donating to the Salvos at Christmas....

Finally - with the travelers' return, numbers at the Wednesday mid-week run have picked up again.  Those who can make it run or walk from John Scott Park at 5:30 pm - come rain or shine (though there's not much shine at 5:30 in winter.)  This week we'll be going on afterwards for a meal at the Samford Indian restaurant. Payback and Cash Converta will be bringing Hash drinks, or BYO.

Next run details

When: Sunday 8th December, 5 pm

Where: John Scott Park, Samford Village

Hares: M. Promptu will set the run; Potluck will cater (please bring something to share)

And then...the Red Dress Run

When: Monday 9th December, 6 pm for registration

Where: Caxton Hotel, 30 Caxton Street, Petrie Terrace

Hare: Radar

Cost: $15 donation to the Salvation Army - also gets you one free drink and a half-price meal.

On, on!