GFH3 Run #1,791; 17 January 2015

Several people commented that this year's Boom Boom Birthday Hash was not nearly as unpleasantly cold as it has been since the tradition began back in 2011, when she was just 99 years young.  Temps being well above freezing, Big Balls on Deck had to include the warning, in his brief, that some of the mud was thawed, and therefore treacherous in different ways than in the still-frozen sections.  He also had to warn about watching out for arrows, in order to ensure avoidance of un-permissioned private property, and offered a special graffiti treat!

While 14 walkers hung back for special instructions, 30 runners got themselves down the hill to the first check, and a whole bunch of them checked to the right while the rest hung around waiting.  Eventually, everyone charged off to the left and found their first arrow, pointing them downhill.  Was it Cock in the Crease who complained that starting with a downhill just meant he'd have to climb back up later in the run?  Reassurances that this was an all-downhill trail did not seem to help.

Away we go.

Then there was some confusion in the middle of the trail.  Remember the graffiti treat?  Phoenix Rising, working backwards and early, found it before the others, and found a law enforcement officer on the site.  The L.E.O. informed him he was trespassing, and after a bit of reasoned discourse, with PhR making some salient points, the L.E.O. offered to write PhR a citation.  They both agreed that would not be nearly as much fun as finding a different trail -- which PhR did, eventually bumping up against the main pack and recommending a judicious detour.  So Sean and Not-Jennifer (sorry!) were the only two to run the true trail, as they'd gotten far enough behind not to witness the hash careering off onto false trail, and the L.E.O. was gone by the time they arrived at graffiti central.  Nipple Knocker has promised a photo of the graffiti (he helped BBoD and Paddle My Candee Ass to set).  When he sends it, I'll post it.

No known explanation for any of this.

So eventually everyone made it back to the On In, where Norm was grilling bratwurst, PMCA had finished making gravy, and Jill had filled every horizontal surface in the house with food.  We're talkin' pork, we're talkin' chicken, we are talking about several potato salads and a crock pot full of mulled wine and cheesy casserole and scalloped potatoes and something like chili.  We are talking, ladies and gentlemen, about enough food to feed 90, and sufficient beverages for 150.  (In addition to the 48 hashers, there were about 10-15 friends and family, so while doggy bags were available, there were significant inroads made.)  At last report, no one had attempted the bottle of Wisconsin cranberry wine.

The Associate Mufti, or Mufti Pro-Tem, played his M.C. role to the hilt, lauding Jill and her myriad helpers for the feast, and demanding an on-key rendition of the happy birthday song.  He may actually have blown a kiss to the birthday girl, who looked spry and happy despite all the shouting strangers banging about around her.  "I hope they're not drunk," she acknowledged at one point, but expressed delight at seeing, and hearing, the young folk enjoying themselves.

Here's to 103 more!

And enjoy themselves they did, as shown here.  Thanks to PMCA for additional photos.

GFH3 Run #1,790; 10 January 2015

A favorite Hash hostess, Blow in the Hole hero'ed it up once again, with help from a cast of... several.  Consultation with Blazing Straddle and Jeffy Lube resulted in a useful trail map.  A quartet (BitH, JL, Zipperhead and Dances with Bulls; three on foot, one on wheels), well-bundled, colored the flour blue for better visibility on the leftover snow, and then scattered it about Herndon for 12 runners to follow.  Seven walkers made their own path, determined to visit the historic downtown, for bread or trains or maybe both.  That's four hares and 19 hounds; so how were there 30 people at the hash?

Pre layer-donning, the hares make sure they know where they're going -- more or less.

One speculates that perhaps not everyone felt like getting a bit of exercise in the great outdoors today.  How could that be?  Why would that be?  After all, the wind chill wasn't all that bad, and the sun was shining like billy-o, so temps in the high 20s actually felt more or less like high 20s, not something frighteningly lower.  Some people were outside in just three layers!

Blazing Straddle was inside, heating up the vegan and paleo chilis BitH had cooked up the day before; perfect lunch for a somewhat chilly day, after a five-mile run over occasionally icy ground.  The hash showed its appreciation by sucking up every gram of beef and most of the black-bean-and-sweet-potato.  Bubbles contributed cookies (and cleaned the downstairs bathroom, while BitH was cleaning every other inch of her home -- before the hash arrived!  Now that's some heroism.).

Note shining sun

Valiant handled the roll call as last week, and did it with a distinctive flair and a decent amount of group participation as he squinted at the tiny roll call print.  Trisha hit #2, and Jen Rough Cut got dug up from the C list, one hopes.  As one hopes they both come back soon.  You can see them in the photos, and introduce yourself next time.

GFH3 Run #1,787; 27 December 2014

Rumor has it... there were about 35 people at Nipples and Greg's place in spite of the early start and missing website.  The course was short at about 4¼ true trail for Eagles and 3½ for Turkeys.  Nipples scouted and set, and her trail included some nice woods, several main roads, some shiggy and a history lesson for the Eagles, who cut through the Dranesville Tavern.  Everyone made it in safely with no evidence of falls, mudslides etc.  There were four dogs – Cam, Abby, Kiley and Olaf.  The weather was beautiful, sunny and almost 60 degrees, and everyone was out on the deck with the fire pit lit.  There were breakfast foods including cheese eggs, ham biscuits, sausage balls, fruit salad, and a nice crumb cake (courtesy of Beef Strokemoff).  The Oral Advocate did well as Mufti Pro Tem and we had one 99 to the cup, Tim.

And Packing Pink Heat got renamed Mimosa Mary on the occasion of her 400th run.

Anyone who has photos is welcome to send them.  These are from the archives:

GFH3 Run #1,782; 27 November 2014 [Thanksgiving]

We are all thankful for hash heroes and frequent hosts -- especially, somehow, on holidays when they have other things they need to be doing -- Packing Pink Heat and Pickled Peter.

Saturday heroics from Ole Fud, Strac and Dances with Bulls AT 2:00 PM!!

Thankful for hash friendships (Nov 2013)

Just love this photo.

GFH3 Run #1,781; 22 November 2014

With a warming trend on its way and the sun shining high from a blue, blue sky, 41 hashers convened on Blazing Straddle's house, where she was putting the final touches on chili for 35.  Whoops.  Anyway, she and Money Bitch had put all kinds of touches on a long, woodsy trail; some controversy arising over the possible existence of 'false checks,' and a rumor making the rounds that true trail was 7.9 miles.  That rumor was countered by physical evidence, but you know how it goes with rumors.

Most of the GFH3 knows the neighborhood pretty well, BStrad being a generous and frequent hostess to the group, so people who wanted to shortcut could.  One small contingent of walkers, new to the area, claimed to have gotten pretty seriously lost and walked a skosh further than desired, but they were still smiling at the 60-minute mark, so good weather and great company were apparently offsetting the impact of bruising tootsies.  The true-trail runners spent more than 90 minutes in the fresh air, and looked mighty fine as they pounded down the final hill, bright-eyed and rosy-cheeked, and Air Horn hardly wincing at all.

Ironman triathletes scoff at even the longest hash trail.

The final days of autumn make chili and fixins a natural choice, and the hash filled up, to the point that BStrad had to break out some noodles and tomato sauce for the handful who didn't make it to the stew pot in time.  There was also a delicious coleslaw, with raisins and almonds, and warm brownies making the rounds.  The beer was confusingly housed inside -- but trust this group to find the beer when it gets relocated.

Mufti shouted the roll, welcoming a full family of first-timers:  Abigail, Brian, Christa and Nate got talked into hashing by Bad Dog.  Per Oral Advocate, they're natural hashers, which he apparently intended as a compliment.  Erotic Equation made a special-guest-star appearance, and John, at maybe his third hash, started making noises like he'd consider hosting.  Be nice to newcomer John, everyone.  He seemed a little freaked by the idea that there's no way of predicting how many people you have to feed...

Guess who ran and who attended a flute recital.

The Oral Advocate warned the Exec Comm that Mufti and BC3 plan to abandon us for the questionable joys of southern California (warm weather, sunshine -- who needs that?) for three months beginning just after Christmas.  They promise to return, if everyone behaves.  After all, who wouldn't want to come back to all this?

GFH3 Run #1,780; 15 November 2014

Days do not get any more gorgeous than this, with the blue blue autumn sky offering the perfect backdrop for the last of the autumn leaves and their blazingly warm colors, and the sunshine sparking off Rock Creek as it splashed over its stony bed, and the traffic light enough that the gurgle of the water was the main soundtrack for a walk in the woods.  Days do get warmer than this, of course (record lows overnight in Danville!), but as long as they were in the sunlight or in motion, the 17 hashers who made it all the way to Washington were happy as could be.

Headed for the first X!

Wait, wait -- they might have been even happier if they could have found true trail!  Though Dances with Bulls claimed in her brief that the run might be a bit long "because I can't count," she later confessed that she wanted to be sure the hash got to visit an especially beautiful spot in the neighborhood.  But they didn't!  Instead, they got up to Connecticut Avenue, ran through an X instead of exploring across the street a bit, rushed around the zoo, and somehow found the last bit of the trail, though opting for the 'strenuous' portion of the Western Ridge instead of the 'moderate' track DwB, Zipperhead and Paint in the Ass had carefully marked with highly visible, floury ons.  (Per Zipperhead, if you're not alpha, you're furniture -- and the trail was set by two alphas and a sofa.)

FRB, short-cutter division.

That, though, was just the initial clump of five runners.  Sally and Richard arrived a bit late to a new-to-them venue, and left about 30 minutes after the pack.  Sally ran much of the true trail, albeit cutting out some of the beginning and running the middle bit backward, carefully marking the checks somehow to indicate the forward direction.  This part seems very confusing.  Richard was the only runner to complete the full trail, and arrived at the On In about 90 minutes after everyone else, thanking his wife sincerely for those marked checks.

FRB, true-trail division

The walkers were cool, calm and in control, making a two-mile circuit past the zoo gates.  The On In featured good wines and great sandwiches and a roaring fire under the pavilion.  Sunshine plus a fire!  Plus the Mufti in fine voice.  Matt celebrated his final single-digit run, and A-lister Katy turned 20.  Photos here; thanks Mufti for pix!

GFH3 Run #1,779; 8 November 2014

In the midst of the new construction, golf courses and townhouse developments of Ashburn there is a farm or two still, and there is a bit of unpaved road with a 19th-century farmhouse that Little Ricky Tutu and his bride (about three years, for those of you who may have missed that development) are renovating.  Kindly, they shared it with the hash today, with Bad Dog assisting on trail.  The 27 hashers foregathered admired the work done and the plans for the future, listened respectfully to promises of a friendly trail for all ages and activity levels, then ran off into the mud of the nearest construction site.

Warm-up jig

Warm-up cheer

They found about five miles -- two and a half for the four walkers -- of mixed pavement and grass; pipeline and W&OD.  Along the way, Climax Investigator came up with several ideas for nicknames:  Rubs One Out for Seth, who was fixing chalk marks along the way; Little Pokey Things for Brogue Bait, who was irked by the sticktights clinging to her extremities; Jack Rabbit, Sticky Palm and Go Long for others for other reasons.  Go Long presumably has something to do with the football that was, per Bite Me (eyes rolling), in constant play throughout the run.

Fleet feet with football

The 19 runners made it back in four clumps (fast, faster, super-fast and shortcutters) and settled down to sausage (LRT:  "Regular or spicy?"), burgers and dogs and trimmings, bedewed by Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada amongst others.  As the crisp and sunny afternoon ceded to a chilly and sunset-y evening, hoods were pulled up and coats pulled on and blankets pulled over the coats and hoods, and the Mufti started shouting.  He was moving along as briskly as the weather through that roll call until he got down into the S's, when he suddenly flinched, bellowed a warning, and announced Spurt has achieved 666.  Then he dug into the B list for Pumpmaster, whilst Air Horn sadly pondered what he had done wrong.  To rear a B-lister:  oh, the ignominy.

During a conversation about Radar's photographic perspective and the plaudits it wins from half our membership, Bite Me confessed, "I can't find most of my costumes."  Non-Radar (sorry, guys) pictures here.  Great hash!

NEXT WEEK:  NOON START in Rock Creek Park.

GFH3 Run #1,777; 25 October 2014

Another gorgeous day in Sterling, following on a dry summer and fall.  Quick refresher:

This is what the woods around Spurt's house looked like in December 2012

Today, he had mapped a lovely 4.12-mile course, but decided it would be better if he could make the true trail less than four miles -- so he cut through the woods for a bit rather than send people on the paved path.  Fortunately for the hash, today the footing was more like this:

Lovely!  Of course, the eccentrics could still choose damp tootsies if they preferred.

Note Matt in background, headed for the bridge that goes above the water.

Consensus was that the trail was either "sucky" or excellent, both of which adjectives were intended to convey appreciation of an interesting, amusing and beautiful trail.  Further, it was of an appropriate length for those recovering from shoulder surgery, those more comfortable on two wheels, and for any Lyme-disease victims who felt like celebrating a warm and sunny day by being FRB.

The celebrating continued at the On In, with plenty of veggie-pasta casserole and beefy lasagna, with garlic bread and salad and cookies and plentiful libations.  (John:  "Fletcher [golden retriever] loves garlic bread."  Blazing Straddle:  "Who doesn't?")  So 13 tired runners and nine less-tired walkers managed to choke down some nourishment on the back deck.  If it looked like more than 22 hashers to you, that's because there were 31 people there -- lots of host/hare-types plus plentiful sweat-averse socializers.

The Mufti got his usual respectful silence for the roll call, more than can be said for Spurt's brief at the beginning of the meeting.  (Heh heh; actually, everyone was quiet for the brief -- except Susan...)  Spurt, Susan and Blow in the Hole got their well deserved cheers, Kim got an enthusiastic welcome to her first hash, with best wishes for 99 more, Greg made it to the double-8s, and Riley made double-1s.  And does anyone else believe that both Blows and Goes and Pulls Out Early did not stick around for the roll?

Mango stayed for the roll, and did not want to leave.

As the sun began snuggling into the treeline, Susan offered foil and plates to anyone who would take home some lasagna, and insisted everyone take home a banana or two.  If only it were possible to capture her tone -- part generous kindness, part coercion -- in the pictures.

GFH3 Run #1,776; 18 October 2014

The Mufti took a photo!  Give that man a raise!

Only the crème de la crème are allowed to cross the state line to hash.

And this info from Someone Who Was There:

We had a nice turnout; 25 showed up including some new runners, friends of other hashers.  Hash hostess Paint in the Ass, with help from Zipperhead and Dances with Bulls, set a run that covered some brand new territory and kept the pack together for the entire run.

It was a beautiful day in Silver Spring but a cold front was coming in and brisk was an understatement.

Mufti was there with Mango and the Great Falls car pool, chauffeured by Drill Me Fill Me.  Phoenix Rising, as per, ran the trail backward, but broke slightly with his usual technique by turning around partway through and coming into the On In with the pack. 

The hares used 15 pounds of flour and some of the runners claimed to notice a lot of back-checks and Xs.  Zipperhead invoked the heretofore unknown 'heart surgery waiver,' which allowed him to put down a lot of one-dot-to-nothing's.  Paint in the Ass announced that she had lost her keys scouting the run and offered whoever found them the old locks from her house for free!  Unlike a particular hash from the mists of decades past, no one had to break into the house for the On In.

Paint in the Ass hopes to send photos; until she can she shares this link to one of her son's productions.  It is well worth a look!

Not Silver Spring, but almost as good.

Dances with Bulls, Paint in the Ass and Zipperhead?!??

GFH3 Run #1,774; 4 October 2014

First off:  The hash starts at NOON next week.  That's NOON.  Please tell your friends.

This week, the hash started at 3:00pm, or somewhat earlier for those who like to take a bit more time on the trail.  The late venue change caused only minor confusion, and most all of the day's 34 hashers were at Mufti and BC's place, basking in the sunshine, within a minute or two of the start of the brief.  The brief informed us that the Mufti and his associate, the Oral Advocate, were responsible for a four-mile trail, and no one was responsible for another couple of miles worth of false trails.  The Mufti, however, took full responsibility for the Nationals loss of Friday, when O.A. had kindly shared tickets with Our Fearsome Leader, which mistake he did not make for Saturday's game.  Which is apparently tied at the top of the 17th inning?  Is baseball different now than it used to be?  Is there a 17th-inning stretch?  Go, Nats!

Synchronized stretching.

Anyway, the run won applause from the 22 runners (and only seven walkers!  This is a serious running club!), who divided themselves into two groups according to tendon springiness while tunneling their way to Lake Ann, bypassing numerous culs-de-sac and returning circuitously to the On In via Reston Parkway and the North Point shopping center.  Walkers Beef Strokemoff and Queen Cobra were entrusted with Oscar and Mango; a high honor indeed.  Everyone was back in an hour or less, which is one way you win applause with this group.  Or you can complete the Chattanooga Choo-Choo Ironman in 2.5 hours less than your target time.  Hoorah, Bite Me!

Talk about tendon springiness...

Another way is to feed them well, which BC3 did with a magnificent spinach salad full of tomatoes in many colors, artichokes and other exoticisms.  It was an excellent embellishment of Papa John's usual fine effort.  There was enough variety in the beer tubs to tempt  Phoenix Rising to join the group very late, with his racing duds still on under his civvies.  Folks began trickling away by 4:30 or so -- perfect weather or not, autumn afternoons can get chilly.  And if you are driving a drop-top Cobra, the temperature is a concern, even if the Mufti has just begun the roll call.  If only Queen Cobra's driving her namesake roadster past the group just as Mufti shouted her name had made it into the pictures -- but it's hard to snap photos while cheering and clapping...  Thanks for shutter-assistance, Knipple Knocker!

Yeah.  That, too.

GFH3 Run #1,773; 27 September 2014

Nipples:  "What kind of a person sets a backcheck five on the turkey trail?"  Phoenix Rising:  "Heh heh heh."  Pause.  "At least it was downhill coming back."

Plus, the backcheck was only about halfway up the very long hill..

Although the funnier bit, arguably, was Air Horn beginning the brief with the announcement, "We ran into a few problems on the trail."  Specifically he, setting eagle, and PhR, setting turkey, ran into someone else's marks:  a whole bunch of floury arrows pointing some other people some other way through the Great Falls woods around Riverbend.  Luckily, the outlaw arrows had no cross-hatches, and were not paired with any kind of checks or other deviousnesses, so the hares wrote "GFH3" at frequent intervals on their overlapping trails and hoped for the best.

Another funny bit, actually, was when A.H. said turkey trail was about five miles.  Ha ha ha!  Eagles had a true trail of about six and a half, although Knipple Knocker reported 7.9 miles on his GPS.  Devon probably got more, as between outlaw arrows and Malaysian jetlag, she meandered a long way off trail and didn't make it On In until the search party was forming.

And Spurt is running again!  Welcome back!

Gorgeous weather ensured that ten turkeys and eight eagles (there were only 16 runners, but Blow in the Hole and Bionic Babe, after starting as eagles, mystically and abruptly evolved into turkeys during a moment of inattention, and thus count twice) plus ten walkers, all enjoyed their various excursions and came in smiling.  And kept right on smiling when they saw the big pot of turkey-and-chicken chili (hot sauce on the side, as A.H. did not want to make six different chilis at various levels of spiciness to suit all tastes) and the large pan of barbequed chicken.

The Associate Mufti was enjoying a Nationals win, and the Mufti was... Anyone know where the Mufti was?  Anyway, the roll showed up, so the Assistant Associate Mufti called 34 names (several people showed up late to eat and drink and camaraderie), with no birthdays or double numbers or other excitement.  Nonetheless, everyone in the photos looks pretty happy.

She's smiling in there somewhere.

GFH3 Run #1,772; 20 September 2014

The hash opened its fall/winter season with the Mufti's announcement that the next four weeks are already dibsed by eager hosts and hares, and then Spurt and Bad Dog (as proxy for Little Ricky Tutu) and maybe someone else created a foofaraw in competing for the one remaining October date.  The lesson drawn by Our Fearsome Leader?  Sign up now for a November slot!  Easy Strider:  "Isn't November usually the most popular..." [drowned out by chanting]

Controversy!  Is this the best weather ever, or was the Anniversary Hash the best weather ever?

Today was the perfect day for hosting, which is why Flowerkraut picked it.  The skies over Great Falls were balmy and blue, and the temps perfect for shorts and t-shirts with a light sheen of sweat, plus one kimono.  So 15 runners followed myriad pointing fingers to the creek, jogged downstream to the turkey/eagle split and mostly chose the eagle.  (Bubbles, briefing:  "True Turkey trail is about three miles; the Eagle about four, but it feels like five.")  There was some fairly tame shiggy and bushwhackery, and maybe a bit of new territory -- certainly terrain that Phoenix Rising hasn't trodden in many years.  Plus, an abandoned tent and a seemingly abandoned truck, and a backcheck five at the very end that brought Nipple Knocker in just behind the FRBs.  Isn't he good to find the nice backcheck for everyone?  The walkers braved the creek and strolled down to the Potomac, and found it looking hale and appropriately pastoral.

Oh, if the Marine Corps knew what he was doing with that training...

The On In offered beer in cans -- Flowerkraut loves Simpler Times -- plus Black Box wine and a bottle of bubblesy, Caribbean-style ham casserole (black-eyed peas for vegetarians), salad with tomatoes from E.S.'s garden, watermelon from same and oatmeal cookies warm from the oven.  The 24 hashers who'd managed to figure out this whole Saturday-afternoon-time-change thing basked in the sunshine from the redwood deck, counting critters spotted:  one fox, one turtle, a black snake, many deer, and approximately 7,000 cobwebs, with which pretty much everyone was festively festooned.  Also a frog, on which Matt, or maybe someone else, almost stomped.  You must not step on frogs!

No one's used to leaving the hash before sunset, and Flowerkraut likes people to stick around.

The Mufti had much to celebrate in his roll call.  Blow in the Hole made it back to the Hash, since no one schedules music-history classes for Saturday afternoons.  Paula made 55, ooh.  Todd and Candy made #1, although as their "Got Shiggy?" shirts made clear, that's #1 for the GF, not for the H3.  Perhaps they will become regulars with us, as they once were with the Okinawa H3 -- but they've got a lot of hashing options in the DC area.  If you take a look at the pictures (thanks, Irene and NipK!), you might quite reasonably think nothing could get better than the GFH3.

GFH3 Run #1,771; 17 September 2014

Drill Me, Fill Me had the house, the pool and the weather for a great hash, but his surgery schedule got in the way of setting a great trail, so Pickled Peter and Phoenix Rising showed up with their flour bags.  PhR had a route planned, "but Pickled Peter wanted to do something shorter."  And, per PhR, they set PP's route.  Everyone say, "Thank you!"  The fun backcheck nine at the very start of the run was his idea, too!

The last shall be first, except Nipple Knocker, who shall just be first.

There were several permissions required for the route, which wended its way down Springvale, into the woods, over to Utterback, back into the woods, up Buttercup, across a field and back into what one hasher termed, "real shiggy," which required bent-down running, and then up Springvale and home again, almost all 20 of them, well before sunset.  A well-set trail, with a handy built-in shortcut, that kept the main pack nicely bunched.  The 14 walkers enjoyed the warm, sunny evening with a variety of different routes, including a Valiant Tree Walk option.

Everyone enjoyed a buffet of Chinese food, the pack nicely bunched to debate what was pork, what was chicken and what was tofu.  It was all delicious.  Beverages were plentiful, and the pool inviting.  Not inviting enough to overcome the chill of a late summer night, so its waters remained unmolested, but at least one of us was seriously tempted.

Hot or cold, lit or not, everyone loves to sit around a fire.

The Mufti called the roll, welcoming back Amanda and Alex, celebrating the tardy return of Air Horn after an absence (without leave) of two months, and leading the cry for Peter's number one.  (Peter, an experienced global hasher, approved the Great Falls version.)  Mufti somewhat more decorously led a cheer for the very special guests:  DMFM's parents were kind enough to join us.  (We also got a daughter, Young Fud.)  Finally, Our Fearsome Leader raised an imperious hand and declared the spring/summer GFH3 hashing season over, announcing that it had been the best spring/summer hashing season ever.  He invited everyone to join him Saturday at Flowerkraut's at 3:00pm for the opening of the fall/winter hashing season, which he predicted would be the best fall/winter hashing season ever.  We can hope he's right -- but when is he ever wrong?

Photos right here - none yet from Radar, but this one from the Mufti.  Thanks!

"A Colorful Group of Walkers"

GFH3 Run #1,770; 10 September 2014

As you know, Zipperhead takes great pride in discovering some stretch of dirt, no matter how small, through which he has not previously set, for each of his runs.  Thus he claims to have included virgin territory in all but one of 54 runs he has hosted since June 1986.  (And in that one exception, he got a few friends to don quasi-virginal attire and bang tambourines or something.)  In celebration of the six-month anniversary of his four bypasses, tonight's trail continued the streak.  With Dances with Bulls lending her crafty mind as well, the hares achieved about five miles of true trail, with two disorienting loops contained within the larger loop - which Zh believes is also a first.

Zh and DwB ensured their marks were clear and true by driving most of the trail as the runners ran it, and parking by the more confusing of the cross-over points.  Whether they achieved any satisfaction in watching the 20 runners scramble, unscramble and re-scramble themselves [repeat] is not recorded.  Certainly they successfully re-set the marks required to ensure the pack worked through the second loop as successfully as they had the first.  Clever pack!

Sticking together nicely.

Eleven walkers enjoyed a very small part of the runners' trail, and all made it back to the house before dark, while the runners were still thrashing about in the woods, leaping over fallen branches and unscrambling themselves from the briars.  Headlamps and flashlight apps brightened the ever-earlier dusk.  Fortunately, though the evening was humid, the temperature wasn't outlandish, which helps keep a backcheck six entertaining instead of infuriating.

The On In seemed unusually crowded, and 35 people looked more like 50.  Maybe that's because so many of them were crowded around the table, nibbling on brownies while they waited for their turn at Phlashback's paella.  Praise for the wine offset diffidence towards the beer.

The Mufti, finding no double-number runs on his roll call, tried to make something of this being run #1770, but no one took him up on it.  So he looked again, and realized... HE MISSED SOMEONE!  It transpired that Mini Schlonga, having achieved run 199 back in June, and 199.5 in August, and 199.75 last week, had finally tripped the odometer to reach 200.  [Shouts, cheers, jeers]  So Mufti pulled out his fez [cheers, jeers, salaams], admitted that in the two months since the Exec Comm meeting he'd mislaid the list the possible names [sympathetic murmurs], and noted the Honoree's fashion sense, lack of sense regarding distances appropriate to a hash founded on the theory that three miles are plenty [jeers and lots of them], and app collection.  Valiant pointed out the Honoree's slender ankles.  [cries of befuddlement]  The Mufti then shouted the new nickname to the skies:  NIPPLE KNOCKER!  All the blonde women in the crowd demanded an exhibition of the inspiration for such a name, at which N.K. became uncharacteristically modest.

Let the knock-knock jokes commence!

Maybe next week he'll show up shirtless at Drill Me Fill Me's at 6:30. That's right, it's another early start next week. Only one person arrived in time for a 7:00 start this week; see if you can guess whom from the photos here.

Slender, yet strong, fast and flexible.

GFH3 Run #1,768; 27 August 2014

The Return of Bill!  And, for a change of pace, a North Reston trail!  The Bill part is more entertaining, however, so let's explain:  Bill used to hash with GFH3, back in 2006, 2007-ish, but had gotten out of the running habit (work, kids, etc.).  He wanted to get back in shape.  So he decided the way to achieve his fitness goal was to host a hash -- and get someone else to set the trail, so he could run it, so he'd have to start running again so he'd be ready to run his own hash.  All clear?  Anyway, I said I'd be happy to assist, and he started training, with Rasta the lovely vizsla's help, and tonight they ran the hash together, for the first time in six or seven years, so yay.

Bill, Rasta and Bill set up for guests.

They had 17 friends to help them, and so cascaded down the back lawn and into the Reston trails, which took them to the Herndon trails, south and back east again and up the Fairfax County Parkway (turkeys) or the pipeline (eagles, who surely enjoyed the dry-stream crossing), and hence back to the house with four or five miles on the GPS from a 3.85 mile true trail.  The nine or ten walkers had a paved loop of just over one mile, and most exercised the option of extending that a bit with some out-and-back stuff.  It was a nice night for extending:  hot, perhaps, but dry and sunny until the sun set.

No Jamaican feast this time, just good old Chesapeake-Bay shrimp boil, plus a pescatarian variation with Bayou country spices.  We drank sparkling wine (get it?  We'll wait...  Get it?  Bubbles?), Rolling Rock and Red Hook and Black Box and lots of other stuff.  Rolling Rock goes best with a shrimp boil.  There were birthday cookies for Puss in Boot and a birthday cake for me (very surprised; Heater Beater is both devious and duplicitous).

Also, Mini Schlonga returned from his looooong
summer break to celebrate his 199.5th run with GFH3.

The Mufti called the roll, but maybe didn't record the #1s of Bill the Nephew or Megan.  Perhaps they'll join us next week, in Arlington, and we can all shout, "98 to the cup!"  Bill the Host responded to the Mufti Challenge (get ten extra runs if you know your count from years ago) by guessing 25, but he was actually at 27.  The Mufti drew a limp hand across his relieved brow before marking the attendance sheet.  The putative flash (second-grade version) was too busy boiling and baking to take many photos, but there are a very few right here.

Here is the story of how the GFH3 met Bill, who reports the group is a little slower and a little louder than when he was a regular lo those half-dozen or so years gone by:  In the fall of 2005, Blow in the Hole attended her first hash on the recommendation of Thanks for the Mammaries.  She joined us infrequently over the next several months, but on one of those occasions, Zipperhead told her that a hasher ought to host by the time of his or her tenth run.  So, on her tenth run, in summer 2006, she hosted.  She rented the party room at her swim club in Herndon, right near the Reston line and the Runnymede and Sugarland trails, and TftM and I'm Not Dead Yet helped her scout and set trail.

While scouting, they decided they needed a cut-through from the stream trails onto the streets near Fairfax County Parkway, and so rang a doorbell or two.  Bill answered one, and when TftM asked whether he'd mind a few nice people jogging across his lawn on Wednesday evening, Bill said, "Is that a hash?  Why not have them run right through the house instead?"  So the trail went across the stream, up the yard, onto the deck, with a big blob of flour right by the back door.  And the pack went across the stream, slowly into the yard, and then milled about by the deck, asking each other if anyone knew who lived here.  Bill invited them in, and they went, tentatively, in the back door and out the front, where Bill had set up the lawn sprinkler as it was an exceedingly hot night.  And a couple of weeks later he came to the hash as a runner.  Welcome back, and thanks for hosting!

GFH3 Run #1,767; 20 August 2014

First time host Katy did the hash proud tonight, getting the downpour out of the way early, and the runners on the road promptly at 7:00 in the hot-and-humid aftermath.  Co-hare Thanks for the Mammaries drove out to re-lay marks damaged by the rain; the hares had almost finished setting before the skies sundered.  A big ol' walkers' contingent of about a dozen (clean to start; a dirty dozen by the finish), plus newcomer Bruce, enjoyed a paved trail largely of their own making.

The roughly 19 runners got some winding roadways and a good bit of pipeline.  A plethora of shortcuttery and a mismarked check or two brought them On In in widely-spaced clots of one and two and three and five.  Nipples can tell a story of minor adventure better than it can be told here.  Ask her!  The trail was brief enough that most everyone was in before dark, which arrives so sadly early nowadays.

Twilit clot of three

And at the garage, the 37 hashers were met with a bevy of sandwich fixings and some gigantic turkey legs, which they enjoyed with enthusiastic gesticulating.  There's just something about a drumstick, isn't there?  Beverages and seating were both plentiful, and the evening made for lingering.

Mufti ran down the roll, with Zipperhead making 1177 (the double ones and double sevens, not that anyone seemed to care much) and Katy, who first joined this group for run #1151, back in 2003, making it back onto the A List from the ignominy of C.  First-timers Bruce, who does not replace Duke but makes a fine addition to the PPPP household, Mike and whoever that was dancing with the hostess, did not seem to sign on for the roll.  Curious.  They are all in the pictures, though, the most revealing of which are courtesy of Puss in Boot.  Thanks!

She says she's not dancing, but she is.  She is.

Next week:  The Return of Bill!