Loads of Hash in Lees Garden

It was hashing time again on Monday night. This was to be a special hash for Scrum Muffin (Claire) and  Little Pecker (me) as we were setting the hash. We chose the White Horse at Hascombe as the 'On Inn' so that Guildford Hash House Harriers got to experience a little that the Greensand Way has to offer.

Little Pecker was the 'Live Hare' at the White Horse on the Greensand Way

We scouted out the route the night before and decided that we would spice things up a bit by having me set the hash Live (remember In The Bum did it in a previous blog?) . This meant I would set off only about 15 minutes ahead of the hashers and lay the trail as I ran.

Scrum Muffin was 'check in chicken' at the white horse on the Greensand Way

Scrum Muffin was to be Check in Chicken which meant she stayed near the back and made sure the stupid/lazy/knitting club/elderly hashers made it back alive. This is not a job for the feint  hearted, you need good CPR and first aid skills as well as severe patience.

Some runners from Amsterdam Joined us on the Hash at the White Horse at Hascombe on the Greensand Way

It was great to see some new faces (visitors) as usual. There were even two chaps from Amsterdam who were in for quite a shock when they were to meet some 'uphill' terrain they had never experienced before.

Little Pecker lays the flour trail in Busbridge Woods

So off I went at 7.15 pm. running as fast as I could I went straight up the Hurtwood on the Greensand Way before diverting across it towards Little Burgate Farm. Laying little flour marks and 'checking' circles as I went. Music in my headphones blaring I was determined they wouldnt catch me!

Flour trail near Little Burgate Farm

15 minutes later and the main hash was off charging (and moaning) up The Hurtwood too! By this time I was well past Little Burgate Farm and working my way towards Busbridge Woods and a surprise for the Hash at the Halfway mark.

Hasher at sunset at Little Burgate Farm near the Greensand Way

As Scrum Muffin kept things calm at the rear of the pack the guys at the front found themselves climbing a very steep path I call the treasure path and bursting out in to someones garden! 

Guildford Hash House Harriers at a beer stop in Hascombe at Little Peckers House.

The Garden was mine and they found me relaxing there with a little beer in hand welcoming everyone to the halfway mark and a beer stop. Always a welcome surprise on any hilly run.

Useful signpost near Hascombe near the Greensand Way 

It was nice for me to leave my garden with the group and continue on back towards the White Horse. We ran them out through a part of Hascombe Grange and back down towards Hascombe. Eventually we popped out back by the pond at Hascombe where the Hashers rejoined the Greensand Way for the final sprint back to the car park.

hashing flour marks at the pond in hascombe on the Greensand Way

We marked the end of the run with the usual 'On Inn' and signed it off LP for Little Pecker and SM for Scrum Muffin.

Flour trails marking the hash on the Greensand Way 

The hashers all said they really enjoyed a very scenic run so we were very pleased.  We even found out from the bar man at the White Horse that he used to hash in Russia in Moscow through Gorky Park!


There are so many beautiful trails in this area we are bound to bring the hashers back here again soon. In the meantime it felt fitting that we were there  less than two weeks before our main run in a place where we had trained, done an Easter Runday and led 2 hashes. 


There is a small chance some of the flour may still mark the way when we do our actual run on the Jubilee weekend.




On On !


Little Pecker 

Windmilling

As a 'Rock Music Fan' I used to love watching clips of Pete Townshend of The Who 'windmilling' with his arms in front of his guitar. I went to Kent Uni which was also attended by Jonathan Creek star Alan Davies (whos character lived in a windmill) . My Univeristy Lecturer Frank Burnett also lived in a Windmill, As did Windy Miller who was in Trumpton which has a great episode about Window Cleaners . I also 'hung out' with a band called the Amazing Windmills when I was at college. The chance to add another windmill encounter in my life was about to occur......

The next stage of our training exploration of the greensand way was to get to the end of 'map 4' on the surrey website. I was very pleased to learn this would include a 'run by' of the Windmill in Ewhurst. It sits atop Pitch Hill and is the highest Windmill in Surrey and was built in 1840.

Claire and I set off on Saturday morning where temps overnight had been minus 9. We had sensibly taken it easy the night before by staying out until 2.30 am and going to the 10th anniversary of the rock club night 'Schism' in Woking. We had loaded up on energy drinks (with cute little shots in them) and the odd lager so we had plenty of calories avaiable the next day for our run.

Dave texted whilst doing a training run in Portsmouth where the minus 9 temp had frozen his camelback drink solid and made his hair crunchy and solid. I avoid freezing in my camelback by using 'human friendly'  antifreeze in my water.......ribena.

Greensand Way view just east of the White Horse Pub

The very low temperatures and 'slight hangovers' took their toll on this run, as did me forgetting to take my running jacket and being forced to opt for an additional fleece instead. As we started from the White Horse pub I had estimated the distance to the windmill at about 7 or 8 miles. It turned out to be closer to 10. It is becoming a trait of mine to massively underestimate distance and fail to notice 'steep terrain'. I would probably call Everest a slight uphill 4 mile jog.

As usual the route was easy to follow with all the Greensand Way signs and we soon crossed a disused part of the Wey Navigation Canal.

crossing the disused Wey Navigation on the Greensand Way

As we began the steady climb into the Winterfold Heath towards the top of pitch hill the run felt very similar to the first time we slogged up towards Gibbet Hill. The views from this area are amazing and the Heath is owned by the Bray family who have had it since it was gifted to them by King Henry VII 500 years ago. The scenery was so epic and distracting that Claire was a 'tumbling tosser' (a hash house harriers term) and fell over without hurting herself.

Climbing into Winterfold Heath on the Greensand Way

Getting to the top of Pitch Hill involved running along the ridge and eventually after zig zagging through the paths near the top we reached the Ewhurst Windmill. It is privately owned so we couldnt look round it. Instead we sat in the freezing cold and drank some coffee and stuffed ourselves with food and having taken 2 hours to run 10 miles set off again 15 minutes later to try to get home before 4pm.

The only angle I could photograph the Ewhurst Windmill on the Greensand Way

Despite a few miles of the journey back being downhill it was obvious to both of us on the way back that the conditions, temperatures and physical state was making progress very hard. We were running along with ALL the clothes we brought with us on including the extra clothes to wear just when we were standing around having lunch.  Running in these temperatures is very, very draining on your energy levels.

As we got to within a few miles of the White Horse we decided sensibly to end the run early as Claire had picked up a painful foot injury which was making running very difficult. We had already run 15 miles at that stage which was further than I had planned anyway. Risking making an injury far worse for the sake of a few more miles just wasnt worth it. Fortunately Claire was fine by the evening.

We stood like cold school kids by the A281 in Grafham and got picked up by my wife who brought a warm car and biscuits!

Greensand Way near Rooks Hill Farm in Grafham

This run has allowed us to map out and get familiar with another stretch of the Greensand Way. It was also the first time I used my android app Backcountry Navigator which is an excellent GPS app that superimposes your location on an Ordnance Survey Map so you can see real time exactly where on the footpaths you are.

We are beginning to get a bit tired of the large sugar intake required for these distance runs so I'm going to spend this week looking for savoury snacks that are calorie rich we can maybe try instead of the endless jelly babies.

 I also learnt that if you use 'tiger balm' as a deep heat remedy on tired muscles and then dont wash your hands then jelly babies taste 'odd'.