Popped my hash cherry
So I did it. I was a virgin hare today. As some of you know, I take part regularly in an expat running group in Tokyo. We usually have a “hare” who sets a trail, books the restaurant for dinner and everyone has a good time with nomihodai (drink-all-you-can).
Before my trip to Singapore I ran through several trails to select the best one and made reservations at a friendly Indian restaurant in Akasaka. A few people told me lots of things could go wrong so prepare ahead.
I couldn’t have done it without Kathy, an American girl, who started the Tokyo hash the same time as me. She did the attendance-taking and money collection. She’s also very bubbly so she was great as a host. At 315pm today I walked through my trail once to mark it and then ran it again to make sure the chalked arrows were still on the ground.
More than a few peeps told me they were amazed I could chalk so many arrows past the guards outside Shinzo Abe’s abode and the imperial palace. I was going to ask to the guards to direct the group if they had a problem with the chalking. But, it turns out, they looked like they didn’t even see me. I suspect they have such a boring time in the summer heat; anything unusual is just too much energy to expend. Another hasher told me that Shinzo Abe is out of town so the guards probably didn’t give a fug about security. Yet another hasher told me she tried to set her trails near the palace but was caught by not one but two policemen. For those of you familiar with that neighbourhood, you know there is a guard every 40 metres.
So I got some stripes for that, but true to hash tradition, there was much to complain about — “too straight, no bends”, “is that your jogging routine?”, “I thought it was one big circle”, “boring!”… and the list goes on. But in the end, I think everyone was grateful for the straightforward path and short run because it was 30 degrees and no one wanted to be hanging around for too long out there.
There is a tradition where there must be beer at the end of the trail but Kathy and I were chatting in the supermarket so we were late in delivering the water. We didn’t get enough beer either so we had to make one more trip to the supa (supermarket) again but all was good. Several people complimented the chef for the dynamite chicken curry. The aircon wasn’t working very well so some people took to eating and drinking outside the restaurant. That’s Tokyo summer for ya.
Whatever happened, I broke my hash cherry and I’m a happy bunny. Now, I’m a full-fledged hasher and proud of it. Oskarisamadeshta.
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