Run 1861 - There's 'Hope' For Us Yet.

Is it just me, or are runs up and around Braemar Hill falling into the Shitler 'Bunker Run' school of hashing!

Regardless, another highly enjoyable run up and around the area with a bumper crowd of some 40-odd hashers with a few early starters for the Nash Hash joining the festivities. Hare Hopeless, his 87th fine effort at setting trail no less, explained the R1, R2, R3 options that unfortunately, given the intense amount of whining post-run, seems to have fallen on deaf ears, and off the pack went.

Start was from Quarry Bay park by the Island Eastern Corridor, taking us out past the Funeral Home onto Java Rd, passing the ICAC HQ (making more than a few of us nervous I am sure...) before slipping off onto King's Rd.

From there we worked our way up the side streets as a solid pack until a cheeky bit of shiggy that came off Kai Yuen St past Bedford Gardens and exited onto Tin Hau Temple Road.

Pack started to separate here as we begun the Long March up. From THT Rd it was up the stairs past the 'Braemar Hill Fire Station Cum Ambulance Depot' (their words, not mine) connecting to Braemar Hill Rd. Familiar trail from here - obviously going up to the back of the Chinese Intnl School, although the Hare though it would be funny to throw a loop in round the back of Oxford Court up some stairs onto Wai Tsui Crescent before joining back up with Braemar Hill Rd.

Had your humble scribe not been accosted by TFM (who had set off 10 mins early so she could make 'dinner at NOBU' before 9 ooohh la laaaa) coming back down from a check back, he would have had the sense to miss this superfluous loop completely.

More thinning of the pack so it was up to the FRB's to find trail which took the usual loop around Braemar Hill onto the Wilson Trail Section 2 before taking a sharp left on the Quarry Bay jogging trail. The R1/2/3 options caused me to stop and think for a while but I eventually chose the 'up and over' option to either of the side routes as I'd never been up that way before. Sparse markings but thankfully there was only one way to go and I eventually found my way back onto the jogging trail running solo, down past the back of Braemar Hill Mansions and onto Tin Hau Temple Rd again.

A nice jaunt down Pak Fuk (ha ha) road led me back to King's road and from there it was a hop, skip and a jump back to the park, coming in at 55mins with a distance of 8.5km and total climb of 468m.

Excellent markings the whole way I have to say, and up top it was decidedly cooler with an excellent breeze - bring on the autumn!

On On was at a great Thai down the road from the park where 30 hungry hashers literally took over the place! The poor staff and other customers looked utterly bemused. $20 singha bottles went down a treat, but leave it to the sole yank (Backdraft?) to order bloody Blue Girls for a round!

DOWN DOWNs

I don't mind admitting, I've had a hard time making sense of the DD papers, and I was too twatted to make notes myself - Indy you could have been a doctor. What I can make out is the following:

- Hopeless as hare, also his 87th set run!

- Backdraft (being a yank?)

- Hopeless again for something about food pity? I imagine that had to do with the green chicken curry coming out about 20 minutes before the rice ever arrived?

- Under the hour runners (??)

- Late Runners - Dr Evil, Higgy, Bite n Suck, Verbal Diarrhea

- Visitors - David Chung, Rosie Kelly, Ellen Dickenson, Samantha, Hazel

- Some rambling about Hopeless fielding off questions for Nash Hash, Wan Chai Wanker causing a rucuks...then...looks like...flibbledgoook?

- Gary Glitters daughter - last time on the hash (9 years old?)

- All the Nash Hashers!

- All the non-Nash Hashers!

- Lost At Sea - paralympics coordination

- Mia Gulper - discussion about the name