GFH3 Run #1,738; 8 February 2014

Hash heroes Phoenix Rising and Chip Off the Old Dick came through once again, providing an excellent trail and gracious On In for a grateful hash today.  The weather was even semi-decent for February, with some weak sunshine poking through the clouds, and none of that icy air or bitter wind that turns a chilly day freezing cold.  Chilly enough, though, that despite PR’s beautifully landscaped Great Falls acres, today’s 40 hashers seemed glad of a well-heated garage.

Susan is looking for homes for her brother's masks,
especially that weird one on the lower left.

We were graced with at least two Legends of the GFH3 we don’t see often enough, with both The First Lady and Dr. Pecker, PhD, present to help show the whippersnappers how it’s done.  This may just be a vicious rumor with no basis in truth, but did they both walk?  If so, what a runner’s trail they missed!  The pack clumped and scattered and re-formed constantly, with a different FRB every few moments, including folks, like Lori, Big Balls on Deck, Sally and Cocked and Loaded, who don’t always get to the check marks first.  And then, Jeffy Lube got to the final backcheck (5) first!  Mercy tempering justice is what that is.  Another one of the great moments on trail:  maybe eight to ten front runners scrambling across a creek and muddling around while the mid-pack people stealthily found, and ran, the true trail without any foot-wetting.  Phoenix Rising just loves stuff like that.  Incidentally, as if disavowing a certain reputation, the hares kept the hounds to a mere five miles or so.

Far side of stream:  false trail.  So why are they headed that way?

Is this, or is this not, a serious running club?

Paddle My Candee Ass was SRB (second-running etc.); was JL first?  Who cares!  There’s food inside!  In a dramatic break with tradition, Susan made chili and minestrone for the after-party, which was so good that everyone forgot any kung pao or sesame green bean cravings they might have brought with them.  Kind neighbor Claudia (she let PR and COtOD set trail through her property) stopped by to check us out, and she was at least impressed by the feast, if not by the feasters.  Plus:  entertainment by Riley, perhaps our only third-generation hasher, and so adorable one must forgive her transforming from baby to toddler whilst one’s back was turned.  Somewhere in the turmoil, Strac and Kimball arrived at the garage door, DFL and fogging over in the eyeglasses.

Instead of taking a well-deserved birthday break, Mufti called the roll con brio.  There was something exciting about Greg – double 7s, maybe? – and of course bunches of people getting closer and closer to namings and re-namings.  Then Mufti double-checked his records, noticed he’d missed his own self, and counted one more closer to 1,500.  COtOD counted down to the birthday ‘sing’-a-long, BC3 brought out the blazing cake, and Valiant ducked away, on grounds that the Mufti is always in his heart so he needn’t linger over sugary treats.  Thank you, heroes!

Performing the difficult and dangerous candle-kiss with style and grace:  a perfect 10!

In case you were wondering, a convertible sports coupe driven by a successful amateur race-car driver can make a merely-chilly day seem fairly close to bitterly, freezingly, painfully, dangerously cold.  However, it makes an enjoyable perch for photography.  Check out the results here if you’d like.

Confidential to Spurt:  Happy 65^th.