Wednesday, July 2, 2014

GFH3 Run #1,760; 2 July 2014

Some people love the 'heat index' idea, some people mock it, but the heat index, early this evening, was 103 degrees, on an ambient temperature of 94 degrees Fahrenheit.  And the forecast included thunderstorm warnings through 8:00pm, and something like thunderstorm-certainties after that.  Yikes!  In typically unpredictable fashion, 27 hashers braved the swamp-like weather to gather in south Reston, where Chip Off the Old Dick had laid what may be his shortest trail ever, and he and Maria laid out their usual feast.

Mobile Water Stop One, on the move (and farther behind the pack than planned).

It is awfully entertaining when the hare says he has no idea how long true trail is, but COtOD clearly put some time in to planning and marking thoroughly.  That said, rain lays waste to the best of plans, so he encouraged everyone to take chalk during one of the most-interrupted hash briefs of all time, and sent the 18 runners on their way.  COtOD also mentioned that he'd expended thought and time on shortening the route he'd initially planned.  He had a couple of new spots (one actually lightly-used from three weeks ago, when thunderstorms scattered the pack in the midst of a lovely bit of park) he wanted to include, and managed to do so in less than four miles of true trail.  Multiple water stops helped ensure that the full pack was getting where it was supposed to go, and also proved that the marks had done their job in helping keep that pack together.  So everyone was back before dark, raving about the excellence of the trail and delighting in pizza, spareribs, several salads, too many kinds of beer to count, and lots and lots and lots of wine.  Plus chips.  And maybe cookies.

With Easy Strider providing lighting, Reston Association assuring plenty of tables and seats, and the ODs ensuring that no one in a quarter-mile radius would go hungry, dinner was a convivial affair.  The Mufti announced that there are plenty of hosting slots still available in July and August, and the Jazz Swinger mentioned that she'd sure love some help with setting trail from her place in Ashburn next week.

Rough Cut loves to find a false trail when the heat index is 103!

The Mufti further announced that, in the Year of the Chefs, the Chef of the Year was Heats it Up, and Blows and Goes had managed to stick around long enough to step forward and collect her award for her.  In additional post-Anniversary Hash business, he asked The Oral Advocate to accept a token of collective esteem (gourmet crackers and a Nationals pen shaped like a bat) for his ceaseless care of the Hash in his role as Associate Mufti.  Then he called roll, and we welcomed Other Sandra back from Mozambique, welcomed occasional newbies Ann and Kim, and celebrated Maria's double-ones, Rough Cut's triple-eights, and Nipples's triple-ones.  Oooooooooooooooooh.  Suck, Squeeze, Bang will never stop celebrating her 299th, and next time we see her she'll have the chance to persuade the Executive Committee to give her a new name -- maybe one she actually likes this time.

Almost home.

And it didn't rain.  Awesome.  All those damp-looking people in the photos are just -- you know -- glowing.  As one does in Virginia in the summer.

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