Hang Hau T8 run

Hares - Lost in Translation, Hopeless
Write-up - Brother Anus

Hopeless' FB photos

It’s been a bit of a long standing joke over the last year that whenever Lost In Translation hares, it rains. On the morning of LIT’s hash, I take a screenshot of the weather app that shows it’s raining all week and sent to Hopeless and LIT asking them to remind me who’s haring that night. JC and I usually turn up to A with umbrella’s up whether it’s raining or not. All of this is terribly amusing, even after the 20th time ..

So Wednesday morning was no different .. until about ten o’clock when the office started to get excited about “going home early”. A quick text to Hopeless/LIT about over-achieving on the rain dance was ignored .. Emma was recovering from Ladies Hash and Mark already had his hiking maps spread over the kitchen table working out potential routes. By about 11am it was all sorted .. Hang Hau 4pm run A-to-A live hare, Liberace was helping to deliver beers and ice in his van.

A little bit of disbelief from my work colleagues (and the wife) that anyone would really run in the storm, but at 3.45, there I was walking to A with Small Bone, Ice Dancer, JC and Southside Pushover.

The hares set off shortly after and Idiot (with help from Liberace) briefed us on the T8 standard markings then we off walking through the drizzle, solving the first check and then around the corner onto one of Hang Hau’s many wide cycling paths with the wind and rain coming at us with some force. “This is what we wanted” shouts a bare chested Cheezy as he sprints past me. I already start to wonder if I should have volunteered to look after the beer and bags with Tight Cl*t.

A tricky check, over the road and up a shiggy “path” to an elevated road that was out of the direct wind (yeh!). Out onto the roundabout by the hospital and on up, up, up, the path to Mang Kung village. Oh, I know this place well .. LIT and I set a run here before! (Yes, it rained, yes the run was washed out completely and yes Hopeless helped to live hare for us on the night!). By the time I reach the check at the top, the pack had thinned out and myself, Small Bone, Willy Wonka and a few others were lost and unable to find trail.

From here I knew of two routes, one through the village and up the hill - but that was a bit tough for a T8 – so we must be taking the path by the pipes down to the ambulance/fire station. “Follow me, I know the way”, I shouted, and soon we were all looking for a marked route over the fence and on to the path. Nothing. Willy Wonka mentioned he had set trail up the hill earlier that week for HK Hash .. we should look up the road again. So off we went, and sure enough a little further up the road than we had looked before, we found the red packet under a red traffic cone (groan). So up we went, me suggesting to Willy Wonka that there must be a secret way to cut left at the top of the road because it was defiantly too wet to go up the mountain trail to the top. “Maybe, we’ll see”, came the bemused response.

Of course, Willy Wonka was right, on-on up the hill over very slippy rocks to the top and down the path towards Clearwater Bay Road. Well I say a path, towards the end it was more like running through a stream. I don’t run downhill fast, bad knees, poor vision – and soon I was alone. Back onto the road at last and a gentle job down Clearwater Bay Road with the wind blowing a gale and onto a check at the village. I assumed we would run back down to Hang Hau through the “banana trail” but I couldn’t remember where the trail started. After a ten minute solo tour of Mang Kung village I remembered the route back out onto the main road and down the trail. Some confusion on direction through the village and I arrive at the wrong end of the MTR station .. a quick pit stop for some decent beer .. and on through the MTR and back to A.

A great run ! Well done the hares !