Hash 1513

Dad had a sneaky plan for this hash. Some of it I knew about already - he wasn't very good at keeping it all secret. So I knew the shorts would be 5.0 km and that the longs would be 5.0 m. I also knew that it was his birthday hash, but I didn't get why the Hawaiian shirts were part of the theme til later. Anyway another part of dad's sneaky plan was that we would leave 15 mins later than the normal hash time. Partly this was because the routes were pretty short and partly because the car park was free from 8 pm.

Some of the High Wycombe (Hawaiian) Hash House Harriers worked out the link between the fancy dress and the run lengths but with a free drink on offer it was Jo who correctly worked out WHY we were doing it. Then dad, feeling very generous, announced that not only would Jo get her free drink, but there would be free drinks for all. The promise of free drinks was guaranteed to get the hashers moving ...

... and so we set off from the car park heading west on Beeches Road; leading to a few calls of "into the Beeches ... again!", but to the surprise of those who headed in to the Beeches, we actually turned right onto Stewarts Drive where we found a foot path that ran alongside the road. Even though there were a few check marks we stayed on that path until it finished. Oh talking of which, dad says to make sure I thank Alan and Sandra for setting the course has he had hurt his knee

To keep things interesting we crossed the road and followed a footpath on the other side of the same road, which was now called Egypt Lane. After not too much longer we turned right onto a footpath leading towards the main road. Across the A355 and into a small patch of woods we found the first long short split at edge of those woods on Parish Lane.

The shorts turned right and carried on the road till we found Christmas Lane where we turned right. Again, despite a few check marks we carried straight on, taking only a little while to chat about the very modern house with big windows, and how out of place it seemed. At the far end of Christmas Lane we found the second long short split where the shorts turned left on One Pin Lane. Round the back of the sports ground we ran past Hawkeye's House and my old Brownie Hut. Then over the A355 again, and along the footpath on Hammond End which led back to the original track we started on. The on inn was retracing our steps to the pub. While rain had all but stopped by the time we set off for dad's tropical themed hash, Aaron did suggest we were probably in a temperate rain forest rather than a tropical one. Also thanks to Aaron for the extra information when I was asking dad about printing out my artwork.

The longs had a bit of hill to contend with as their route took them to Hedgerley and back. My spies tell me that apart from Nicola getting a nose full of mud and Jo braving some bovines it was uneventful apart from a bit of confusion about where the route was going across a field. And in Hedgerley an inconsiderate driver hid a check mark which meant a bit more confusion.

Once we were back at the pub dad was true to his word with free birthday drinks for all and mountains of food. With chips, sweet potato wedges, bread, sausages, onion rings, chicken wings, fried fish, fried cheese and roast ham it was one of the few occasions where food won the battle of food vs hash!!