Aberdeen Hash House Harriers
Run Scribes

Lang may yer LUM reak, and langstracht may yer Hash be!

Scrib of Aberdeen Hash #1294, May 28th, 2007, by (The) Lum

Fittingly, your correspondent was chosen as scribe on the occasion of his 200th run award (a nice bottle green sweat shirt with the appropriate embroidery), though one might argue Struth’s 350th run (award) at the same on-on circle might have merited the honour even more. The honour of scribe was however motivated by your correspondent’s unselfish assistance to the RA (Woz-on, aka Cosmic Willie) who was not in control of his harriettes’ chatter, but so is life!
It seems appropriate on this occasion to dwell on my joining the Hash some 10 years ago, in January 1997. Having found info on Hash members, and the venue, I phoned an honourable member asking for the directions to Ben-akky, to which Hippo politely advised me how best to get to Ben A-hee, without a hint of irony. So, well advised on both location and some Gaelic pronunciation I went on to partake in the run. Near the end, running downhill (literally) towards the on-inn (probably ‘Esson’s Car Park’), I decided to regain some strength, and squatted to light my cigar. Fellow runners might have misinterpreted my act, and found themselves supported by the unidentified smoke produced, but then saw me rejoining the run whilst smoking my cigar. At the circle I was promptly, and deservedly, named The Lum, or just LUM, after having been nameless for a couple of hashing years, and I am still proudly carrying my handle! So much for my first AH3 run, just one mention of a later run north(west) of Banchory, on May 8th that year, when it actually snowed! Perhaps not entirely surprising, in retrospect! I had arrived in Aberdeen with some prejudice, however, which though it was also later confirmed (e.g. the splendid climate of Aberdeen), meant that I was prepared for Aberdeen, and have never regretted the move, though I could at the time have been persuaded by good arguments (and pay) to stay in Bath!

Back to the present, the 1294th run was the day after the Aberdeen Baker-Hughes 10 k run, in which a number of hashers had participated, including your correspondent, and the Hares. I can proudly and truthfully claim to have done best, since I finished in a number of minutes less than my age in years, which result was not achieved by any of the other participants (as far as I am informed).
Speaking of age, the honourable RA gave the on-on down-down award to his son-in-common-law, Willie or Canna-be-arsed for reaching 2/3 of his own age (it is something with ”NN, and over the hill!”).
One might have thought, that after spraining his foot on the last run, and making a point out of it (that of course would not apply to your correspondent who, only in passing, mentions that he did so during this very run without complaints, or moans), doing the 10 k the day before, and setting this run in the morning, then Cba and his co-hare, Becky Trouser-shredder who had been through the same (not spraining her foot, though, but presumably hearing about it) would have opted for a light ‘de-tox’ run, to get out of the apparent and unhealthy addiction to long-distance running, or would one not have thought so? Never-the-less, one would have been wrong! On this evening, in miserable weather (though better than what was to follow the days after), worse than at the 10 k, the hares had decided for a 12 k run (or thereabout)!

Anyway, the run got off to its start from the Cheyne Hill golf course, where Numbscull of course decided to run across the fairway (Alas, being hit by a golf ball could of course not make much brain damage in his case)!
The run was counter-clockwise which has the disadvantage that you would miss the sunset while running back to the on-inn, but unfortunately this was not an issue on this run, as hinted at. The run went north-east, then turned along Slug Road in good distance, and partly through very nice, at times spectacular territory, but midway, I think, we got into some area which had been subjected to the treatment of the Deforestation Commission: that was hard work, up and over the Hill of Swanley (or wherever), and then a fairly flat, but long gently downhill run from Fetteresso Forest to the beer stop, a stone’s throw (well a good one) up from the on-on/on-inn car park.
For some reason (could it be the cold, wet, windy, and miserable weather?) there was not a lot of ceremony after the two-hour run, but Hillary got a prestigious down-down award for having lit up the (advertised) barbeque with no meat or otherwise to grill, and Sans-0 who had promised to bring the meat, amazingly did not get a down-down for this (no justice in this world)! I am not quite sure whether the hares got theirs.

Hence the hungry hashers sped off for the Marine Hotel in Stonehaven Harbour, which allegedly was still serving food at 9.30 pm.

To view even older scribes, you can go to the old AH3 site at www.ponsonby.plus.com/ah3site/ . The scribes are under a button at the top.