Run	Date	Hare(s)	Description	MapRef	1:50000	1:25000	1:10000	More
866	2017-03-26 11:00	Old Faithful and Bambi	Buriton Queen Elizabeth Country Park	SU733197

Oh! wot a bootiful mornin, Oh! wot a luverly day, I've got a wonderful feelin ….. etc. Yes, yes, yes, Spring is sprung and we want to run. If you were not there then you missed perfect weather and challenging terrain.

As we gathered in the small car park we were able to cheer on the QE Spring Marathon runners on their second lap with witty quips such as "try Hashing it's harder" etc., I am sure this was much appreciated.

Old news for the day came from Hairbrush and Two Ferrets nursed her still plastered paw while we champed at the bit to get going, and then we were off, into the chalk pit nature reserve.

The first little bit took in a loop on the new nature trail which has wooden carvings of small mammals hidden in plain sight. It was while peering back up the slope looking for an owl, that Kinky discovered gravity and nearly bent his bugle.

Predictably it was not long before the pack could be seen wandering around the main pit following a closed loop from both ends until they gave up and went back to look elsewhere.

At this point, just on the main pit entrance, there is only one choice, Up or Down, and to their credit the pack unanimously decided to head up, and I mean UP, and they were rewarded with a lovely climb through the tall beeches to a regroup around the bench in Appleton's Copse.

A short breather later we staggered across the South Downs Way and headed up towards Head Down with Marty dragging Tumble Tot like a rag doll tied behind a bolting horse.

The check on the brow had everyone flummoxed, much to Old Faithful's delight, with Dancer, the bionic brat, burning up a million calories on one false trail after another, Ah! youth is wasted on the young.

At last, was it Spiderman? that found the steep down hill plunge east towards the rail cutting through Ludgersham Copse and on to one of the many criss crossing bike trails that have been carved into the hillside.

Now it was up, down, up, down, up, south, from check to check until even easy going Prancer started to moan until we turned north and were obviously heading home, so he attempted a reverse tuck with double twist in celebration.

Suddenly the going became luxurious, no more up down, no more talk of wabbits in a bwiar patch from Vixen, now it was long strides on soft leaf litter in the deep shade of mature pines all the way to the edge of the quarry and the On-In via the SDW after one hour and twenty minutes of vertical hashing.

Some were called into The Circle, Kinky for falling while owl spotting, Prancer for a belly flop and a pee protocol infringement, Old Faithful for getting lost while being a Hare, with Dancer picking up the Hash-it for just being too young and vigorous and youthful and healthy and overactive and did I mention young? … well, you get the idea.

We then retired to The Village Inn to receive speedy service, enjoy the alfresco imbiblification, and listen to tall tales from Vixen and Prancer about the recent Winchester HHH caravan weekend, he can not recall much after the visit to number fifteen.

On-On! Bambi.