About this run

In true British tradition, lets talk about the weather, it is of interest because the running is so much more pleasant now that there has been some rain. It is cooler and like Lazarus the grass has risen from the hard brown death and burst into an almost springtime soft green, kind on the eyes, kind on the feet. No rain for this run, a dry warm Goldilocks day that attracted around sixty Hashers from several "local" kennels, disorganised by Haslemere HHH and Hares Chilly Willy and Nutcracker. The rather small Chi contingent had the opportunity to make or renew acquaintance with the hosts, Portsmouth, North Hants, Deepcut and Hursley Hashers. We circled up in the Half Moon (Sheet) car park for the "Chalk Talk", which as you can image was a little chaotic. Nutctacker tried to impart her attempt at a lingua franca, which seemed to have two sorts of regroup markings, lines, lines with arrows of different directions, fish hooks "Booo!" and "three and you are on", "Hooooray!". When she had run out of patience with the cross examinations she made a bit more than just an elbow of directional encouragement and implored us to gird up our loins and skedaddle, which of course we did with alacrity, heading South on London Road. Straight off the bat, there was a very inviting field entrance just opposite, with a five bar gate and smaller pedestrian gate to it's right, just the sort of setup we always see at the start of a public footpath, you know what I mean. Despite both gates being locked up with two big padlocked blue plastic covered chains many of the pack seemed convinced that the trail would go through, leading to a pile up of pack in the deep gateway area, those running in and those turning round to come out going nose to nose for a time. Meanwhile those who had been slower off the blocks had found a good trail down Pulens Lane and then East over the Rother at the Old Mill, where there was plenty of water, plenty of murky looking water. On the East bank its shady woods, narrow bramble edged paths over many a gnarly root, with a few false trails continuing East until we break out into daylight on Sheet Common. The government would say "wait for the outcome of the enquiry" to find out what happened next. Several witnesses have been called, the outcome is uncertain. From Dancer and Bambi's POV we found good dust almost to Sheet Common Way where we heard "on on" from the path South, we headed South but no sign of dust but calling ahead and it's down hill so what's not to like. We reached the tree line above the Rother, and saw hashers to our right, we followed. Now in retrospect, looking at a GPS track, I see those ahead of us must have stumbled on a false trail from an earlier check and not realised until we arrived back at where we had first arrived on the common. Oh dear! nothing for it but to run back up the hill again to where it all went wrong to find a helpful Hare (Is that an oxymoron?) who ushered us North, off the common, down to the main road, along Mill Lane where the pack had ground to a halt at a check on the entrance to Millenium Field. Our very own Dancer found the true trail here, which lay all around the outside edge, heading North to cross the railway line. Most of the pack led by the likes of Yellow Peril, Yorkie, K9, etc. were involved in a mass short cut exercise, there is I suppose safety in numbers, the hawk fails to catch the starling, unable to focus in the murmuration, although Bambi has camera evidence me lud. Over the tracks, and up the lane past Burntash Farm, under the A3, not really noticing these highways as we move at pace on lovely green soft flat grassland and firm lanes. Then a little "there and back" loop towards the fish farm where guess what ? yes! a fish hook before heading North past the tradesman's entrance to Elmswood House before turning West and taking the open green … Full run report: https://www.chihhh.org.uk/run1093.php