GZ H3 Run #1099 23 April 2011

GZ H3 Run #1099 was run on 23 April 2011 in CongHua and was set by the excellent team of Globetwatter, SirKumnavigator, Double-0 Dirk and Filthy Habits. A beautiful day for running and an equally beautiful location amongst bamboo groves, mountain streams and views of the surrounding mountains.

Combined with one of the best hashes ever this will be a day to be remembered....and not just because this was Filthy Habits F@ck Off and Farewell run. The pack of 60 showed up hoping to get a last look at this hasher (and ensure that he does leave as promised!) and were treated to a very looooong, and at times challenging run that wound us through the bamboo forests. Starting from a car park overlooking a tiny tourist village we went immediately into the bush then up and over hills before leading to the first of three runner/walker splits. The runner split was a big loop that added on an additional hill but a nice long runnable trail with mostly gentle slopes. Coming together again near the village the pack then went again into the hills and came out near a swimming hole in a mountain stream. The water was VERY cold but an excellent way to get refreshed after the first half of the run. At the watering hole the hares set another split that took the runner on a very difficult trek up a long hill. The sneaky hares set a loooong check back up a big water pipe coming down the mountain. After most people had found it and were aware of how difficult it was they then promptly waited until successive runners (not knowing about the checkback) went up the hill only to find the mark. And to add insult to injury, after going back down the hill again and finding the real trail and coming back up the mountain, the trail wound around very close to the pipe! If the hashers just kept on going through the checkback they would have ended up at the same place......nasty Hares!

Coming back down along the other side of the mountain stream and through the bamboo again brought the pack back into the village to see the old and interesting buildings. Off we went out of the village for more trail and after a check at the top of a hill with a pagoda, the pack then came down to a small dam that everyone crossed and added a nice view of the water reservoir. While most of the pack thought that it was close to the finish, the terrible hares toyed with their spirits by taking them on a long loop that brought them back towards the "A" point. But with one last trick up their sleeves, the Hares had one last runner/walker split. The runner loop went up over a steep hill through a little bit of shiggy then coming back onto the walkers trail for the last few hundred meters into the car park.

With front runner Soggy Biscuit finishing in 3 hours and 21 minutes it was a testament to the length and complexity of the run. Some walkers/short cutters were already back when he arrived and others started dribbling in over the course of the next hour. With the sun going down and people still out on trail some phone calls were made to see if the missing hashers could be located. Constipation started getting worried about Little Turd and ended up going back to look for her and Mattress Pad. DJ (with his parents visiting from Holland)thought he was close when he saw the bus from the Pagoda. He was told that he would still need another hour to finish and wisely decided to go back down to the village and was picked up by Gary Glitter (whose "niece" was also missing!) The circle got started and we received a call from Sunshine stating that she was concerned because she could no longer hear Filthy Habits singing (seems most people prefer NOT to hear him sing!) and didn't know where she was at. When asked if she could help describe where she was at, Sunshine helpfully said that she "could see bamboo." Hmmmm, very helpful indeed. After checking off the various landmarks we determined that she was close in and arrived about 15 minutes later.

The circle started off slow but picked up speed with Soggy Biscuit as RA and once he put Filthy Habits on ice. Filthy ended up on ice for the whole circle with only a mild interruption to put on a rabbit suit that was sewn by Pixy Slut. With the stars shining brightly (obviously we were far from GZ) and a few headlamps the circle continued with numerous accusations and many for Filthy.

Finally deciding it was time for dinner we loaded up and went only about a few hundred meters down the road to a nice little restaurant for dinner. The downdowns continued well into the night before the pack finally decided that it was time to let the bus driver take them back to town.

About a dozen hashers decided to stay overnight and finally made it back to GZ on Sunday afternoon.