Check Back Charlies

A welcome return to haredom by Penile Dementia after a year spent recovering from a ruptured cruciate ligament sustained after slipping on pebbles – at a party. You septuagenarian legend.

The start was at Tsing Wah Garden in the middle of Tsing Yi, and began with an ominous sounding warning from the hare to mind our heads. Out of the park and straight on to a red herring trail uphill that made it look as if the run would be on the southern of the island’s two massifs. But no – a check back, a short shiggy traverse and some Water Authority steps that took us back down to Tsing Yi Road West a little way from the start and across to the Tsing Yi Nature Trail on the northern massif.

At this point the pack was still very much together and most ran on to the obvious route, the steps up to the nature trail. Check back. Cue milling around running up and down the road with no sign of trail. But Eunuch and Golden Balls knew of a crafty set of steps around the corner on the road from the highway. And there they found trail.

Up, up and up, ducking under fallen trees and leaning fences until another check back led to a gap in the fence and access to the upland trails. There followed an excellent hash with numerous check backs that kept the back markers together until the rather long run in, with Golden Balls, Back To The Future, Stingray, Serbian Bomber and Golden Jelly taking turns in the lead until the next check back. I have no idea what happpened at the front of the pack, but it seems fair to assume that a similar lead-share scenario involved Mango Groove, Eunuch, Liberace, One Eyed Jack and Creme Brulee – and we all got fantastic night views of Tsing Ma Bridge from above.

At the finish there was Radio 1, Catch Of The Day and the early-returning Geriatric, who had done a pizza run. Nobody wanted to leave until the bucket was dry, always a sign of a good hash.

Hare: Penile Dementia

Runners: Mango Groove, Eunuch, Liberace, One Eyed Jack, Creme Brulee, Serbian Bomber, Back To The Future, Golden Balls, Stingray, Golden Jelly, Geriatric

Non-runners: Radio 1, Catch Of The Day