Running Club

At the race on Saturday, Carmella and I got to talking to a few people who were involved in a weekly running group here in town. These people invited us to come out every Tuesday for training and good social times. Once a month there is a hash run, and that hash run was last night.

A hash run is a Choose Your Own Adventure run. Before the event, the organizer will go into the woods, and create markings on the trail with cooking flour. These markings will sometimes lead you in the correct path, but more often than not, they will lead you the wrong way.

There are different markings that mean different things. A circle made out of flour means you must choose a direction at an intersection. A "T" symbol means you've gone the wrong way, while an arrow generally means you're going the correct way. Small dollups of flour along the trail are there to tell you to keep going.

The object of a hash run is to find your way to the finish. It's a great way to involve many different levels of runners, since everyone can take their own route. The fast runners will generally find out where not to go first, so the slower runners don't have to make the same mistakes. Everyone gets spread out around the course, choosing their own routes.

Carmella expressed interest in attending this hash run, and I was interested as well, so we showed up at the outdoor store along with about twenty-five other runners, put $5 into a tin, and signed a waiver. Then we were off!

The run leader had spent four hours setting up the course, and there were many different routes through the Lost Lake trail system. Right at the beginning of the run, we had to ford a swift and somewhat deep creek! Everyone linked hands so we wouldn't be swept away. Then it was into the woods to start the adventure, where the goal was to find a unique symbol made out of the flour...a big BN, which would stand for Beer Near!

Carmella and I made some bold choices, and ended up leading the pack on the correct path, and we were ahead of everyone by about twenty minutes. We were in the lead, and the organizers thought they better get to the finish quickly because we were dominting the hash run so much. But then, we made a few wrong turns and were back in the thick of the action.

We ran around for about an hour, hearing voices in the woods calling "On on!" which is hash run speak for "Go this way!" Everyone helps eachother find the correct route. It was like a maze in the woods; we chose routes, found dead ends, met other runners, doubled back, and met more runners. After that hour, we stopped hearing voices, and felt alone in the woods. Just when my moral was dipping, we saw the BN written in flour, and we knew that the beer was near, signalling an end to the adventure.

Just around the corner we found the other hashers lounging on the grass, and we finished strong. The organizers had a beer for everyone, and the post run chatter was good. There were some fast runners who finished after us, so we liked that we were right in the pack.

After the impromptu beer garden, we were all invited to a local pub where all the hashers could partake in free food and more beverages. Not everyone came, but there were probably just under twenty of us there. We arrived to a number of tables reserved for us, and as soon as we sat down, food and drinks began to appear before us. It was a really interesting and fun dynamic, having all the runners sitting around the pub in our running gear.

It was an excellent evening...first we completed the run successfully, then had good social times with friendly runners. Carmella won a draw prize too, which was a pair of techy socks. She had to answer a skill-testing running question before she could claim them though, so she reminded Munny (the organizer) that she was a beginner and needed an appropriate question. Turns out she had to know what the race was called that happened on Saturday. Since she was there to cheer me on (avec sign), she knew the answer was Comfortably Numb, and was able to claim the socks.

Our plan is to attend the weekly training sessions, and the monthly hash runs. I want to make this Tuesday night running a priority, since I haven't been part of a running community since 2001 at UVic. There are all different levels of runners there, and most everyone is friendly. There isn't any attitude in the group, and people are there to get fit, to get faster, or just have fun. It's quite a good atmosphere. There are more women than men in the group.

So, all in all a great evening of running and socializing. I'm excited for the training sessions too, as it will be a great way to keep my training going, be challenged, and meet more people. Carmella is planning to come regularly, so that's excellent.