Hash runs 5 & 6

I'm really starting to get into hashing, it's been surprisingly fun... for running.

Last week was quite an adventure, it started off in a park in Makiki, from there, we made our way past the Diamond Head Theater and to the base of Diamond Head where the trail led up the mountain. At this point, the smarter people in our group turned back, I was not among them. Given that there were only about 15 minutes of daylight left at this point, I really should have thought better of it.

The trail went for quite a while along the rim, the wind was gusting and at one point I was almost blown off the mountain. Holding onto my hat, and running very carefully, we eventually reached what appeared to be a dead end. There was a trail check, immediately followed by a true trail marker. We followed the trail to a bunker that had the words "Diamond Head lookout" chalked upon it, and that's where the trail went cold. At this point, it's completely dark except for some moonlight, but it's rather cloudy out, so it isn't helping much.

Some of the group gave up and started heading back the way we came, while another fellow went back to the trail check and explored down a steep side trail. Eventually the wind carried his "on on" up the mountain, and I carefully followed him down, along with another woman. Everyone else had gone back. Very slowly, keeping one hand on the mountain at all times, we made our way down. At one point, I thought I heard someone yelling, but I glanced around, didn't see anyone, and the sound faded. Going down without falling required all my concentration, so I forgot about it pretty fast.

We followed a culvert to the bottom, I've never been so happy to be back on concrete again. The lead runner and I waited for the last runner, and we all headed for home. When we got there, we were the first ones back, besides those who opted out of the whole thing entirely. We told our tale of woe and eventually started to wonder where everyone else was.

Just as we were debating going back for the others, one of the backtrackers showed up. When the larger group got back to the start of the trail, there were security guards waiting for them. It turned out we were running in a restricted area. This was news to me, I honestly had NO idea. Police were called and identification was demanded. Who runs with ID anyway? The guards were pretty pissed off, saying "We were yelling at you, why didn't you stop?" It turns out they were likely yelling at ME!

The fellow telling this part of the story had made a break for it when the guards were looking elsewhere, so he couldn't tell us what happened next. Fortunately, the "Diamond Head Nine" as they are now known, came slogging up the hill not long after. The police arrived, assessed the situation, and decided it wasn't worth their time. Everyone got a warning and was let go. There were many aspersions cast about, mostly in the Hare's direction, but since no arrests were made, it's just become a good story that I'm sure will be told many times in the group.

Now this week was an entirely different story. Between the last minute Hare change, and this being the annual post-Marathon cripple run, it was a pretty short and simple trail. At one point we headed down to the Diamond Head beach for a stretch. I like running along the beach, but today had a bonus, there was a Monk Seal sunning itself on the beach. It clearly felt safe as it completely ignored us all as we went quietly by. Normally saying hashers went quietly would be sarcasm, but it's illegal to disturb a seal, so we all gawked a bit and gave it as wide a berth as we could. Not long after that, the trail went back up to the road and turned towards home.

While this was my sixth run, and everyone knew it, I still don't have a hash name. People were trying to come up with dirt on me, but thus far have been unsuccessful. So, it was postponed in the hopes of coming up with something during next week's Christmas hash and party. I think people are amazed that I've made it through six hashes without doing anything they can really tease me about. Had I been one of the "Diamond Head Nine" I'm sure that would have done the trick, but I narrowly avoided that fate. Maybe I'll make a fool of myself next time, that's likely what everyone is hoping for.