What a beautiful sunny day greeted us at the Town Hall in Cricklade.  Wimpey and Lemony arrived on bikes, much to the amazement of some who thought they had ridden from Abingdon!  In fact they were camping 6.3 miles away.There were 3 trails, long, medium and a walk.  The excessive rain over the previous days meant that the streams had burst their banks, the fields were flooded and the Thames had risen 2 metres! The walkers were driest as the route was re-planned to keep them above the water.  It was an out and back walk, for which the hares were criticised in the circle, but our walkers enjoyed it as they could stride out without risk of getting lost.  

The middle trail was c5 miles long and was circular, never too far from a view of the church.  The hares had great fun watching the runners plough through water in the wrong direction on many occasions.  It started off well, with the runners wading along a flooded footpath only to find it was false.  Even the hares were surprised at this early immersion as they had laid the false from the other end of the path and knew nothing about the water (or so they said).  After a lot more paddling and wading we crossed a stream, where the water was definitely crutch height, before crossing the road back to the Town Hall and running another long loop to the On Inn.

The long trail was c9 miles (advertised as 6-7!).  The first 3k was along a stream which was very tiring.  The trail basically went out and back and was mostly submerged so the runners were very tired when they got back.  Hotlips threw her trainers away rather than dry them out!

There were 7 bitters and 1 cider to try, along with wine and soft drinks.  These were accompanied firstly by nibbles and then by an amazing hog roast.  After this there was an amazing array of cakes to choose from – we had ours with a lovely cup of tea!  There was also whiskey tasting which Cock Tail won.  He had already left so Lemony had to collect his prize – and drink it as it was already poured into a glass, well it would have been rude not to.  She was awarded a down down for being GM and joined Whimpey in a down down for having cycled 1 mile on an electric bike – it was definitely 6.3 miles but no-one would believe her.  After all that alcohol it was a good thing she was cycling back rather than driving.

A great day was had by all, it was particularly good to see Hutch and Rubber Sole back for the day, and Hursley H3 have volunteered to host 202 

On On

Didcot Hashers: Hotlips, Big Stiffy, Zorro, Edina, Piscine Down, Gatecrasher, Dipstick, Lemony Snicket, Comet, Uranus, Patsy, Gnome Alone, Wimpey, Away With The Fairies, Fluffy Dice, Whippet, Sponge Bob, Cock Tail, Hutch and Rubber Sole

Date: 27/10/19