The Runday Shag
Issue 2568
Date: 5 & 6 April 2025
Venues: Ludshott Common & Hindhead
On Ons: Various!
Bumper Party Weekend Issue
Saturday 5 April, Trail 2568a
Where: Ludshott Common
Hare: The Bounder
OMG!! Half the pack went to the wrong car park (more later), and the GM was feeling demob happy, spotted that Petal was sans chien, so decided to make him checking chicken. Big Mistake! He’s a lunatic who shouldn’t be given a shred of responsibility as can be seen by the trail map below, where he disappeared far off in the wrong direction at the second check. After that it seemed that the only people he was helping were Simple, Kelinchi and J Arthur, who are all blessed with with better senses of direction than the hapless Petal who always relies on his dog to look at him in such a way that says, “You’ve gotta be joking, not that way!” 
Thereafter it was an uneventful almost circular trail, where every check was forward, where the hare bribed the pack with fizz and Hamas dips in the car park, where those who thought they knew better had arrived earlier. We were also blessed with a beautiful sunny day, so the RA had done his stuff. At the circle the GM was in fine form as she prepares to leave the glorious UK springtime to visit relatives in the Australian autumn and Belcher did a great session as he practiced for his new role as assistant RA.
On on to the Fox & Pelican, for a sunny lunchtime in a large pub with a kitchen that struggles to make a decent sandwich. (Compare its dried up offering with two chips to the tasty “bottomless” curry we enjoyed on Sunday. Let’s hope no-one was bottomless afterwards!) At least the lack of sustenance meant that we had a decent appetite for the Main Event in the evening. There are loads of extra pictures, so please use the links below to see what your fellow revellers got up to.
The directions!
Why do I bother spending hours going to and fro with the harerazor and hare to put a spot on the map for you all to find? This week I even embedded a little map to make sure you took the right turning!
The homepage has all the map links you should need, but at the top of the page it says: click on trail no. for more detailed directions. There you can read words that tell you how to get there and other bits of useful information from the hares, but NO! SH3 is so old and experienced that many belong to the class of “We’ve hashed there before, I know where it will be!”
The directions to this week’s starting point were a particular challenge, so a lot of time was invested in trying to get it right. I even made a virtual journey on streetview and by satellete, all to no avail it seems. The hare had said, “It’s at the Superior Road car park” which it was. That should be good enough, but it wasn’t! Google maps has no record of a Superior Road and it calls Waggoners Wells Lane a Road. To further complicate matters there are two main car parks on Ludshott Common, the one we started from (Superior Road) and the Dunelm Car Park. AND to make matters even worse, the National Trust website gives a What3Words reference in its blurb on Superior Road car park that actually corresponds to the Dunelm car park. SO those of you who put Ludshott Common into your map apps, or just thought you knew better, ended up at the Dunelm car park to see the drinks stop being prepared by the fragrant Growler.
Geddit? See, it ain’t easy. Helpful hint: if you use the What3Words link on the SH3 homepage or the Trail number page you can use your navigator of choice (Google, Waze, passenger, etc.) to get you there.
Sunday 6 April, Trail 2568
Where: Devil’s Punchbowl
Hares: Doug the Tub & Mrs Robinson
It was a great turn out for the run despite the late night before. The sunshine definitely helped those feeling a bit under the weather from last night’s partying.
An interesting trail, I have hashed here a number of times but never done so many; here and there, and up and down, up and down, before. Usually just down, down, down then up, up, up. I hope no one on Saturday night suffered the old down, down and up, up following over-doing the alcohol!!!
Quite a few of the checks were quite challenging and kept the few able-bodied hashers up to the checking very busy. They also helped keep the pack together quite well.
We finally as we neared the end got a view of the Devil’s Punchbowl itself, having been totally surrounded by trees the whole time.
We gathered for the circle, my notes not making much sense but they seem to be about Uncle Gerry being pissed off as he wasn’t running (not sure if that’s about him or the pack?) and that Bonn Bugle was waiting for him to piss off out of her circle and how everyone had pissed her off over the last 2 years.
There were lots of down downs. The hares, of course, and thanks to various people for making last night so good, including those that made a fool of themselves in one way or another.
We then all departed to one venue or another for our lunch followed later by the AGM and lots of thanks and ridicules for various members of the committee.
A good end to a fabulous weekend.
On on
Birthing Blanket
Addendum
At the extremely well attended circle, bubbly was circulated in upmarket gold flecked plastic flutes.
Visiting Hasher Flop Flop
gave a recitation of the “boozy version” of the Lord’s Prayer.
Gibber then filled in as RA choosing his sinners by brutally (and probably apocryphally) listing historical character defects of long term SH3 members:
Sister Anna: Trading in her habit for bad habits;
JArthur: Using his Secret Santa gift of an Abacus (pronounced “calculator”) to be a tight-fisted Hash Cash;
Tequil’over: Laying “Curates Egg” runs and trying to put Wetherspoons out of business with his mobile brewery;
Mrs Robinson: Giving up
swearing and alcoholism to bring up “Little Duggy;”
Cap’n Webb: (in absentia) We can only wonder what hamartia such an upright member could possibly have!
Scud: Substituting a gunge spray for the normal Down Downs;
Mrs G: (Almost) keeping Gibber under control;
Greenpeace: Joining SH3 which has no interest in cleanliness, strong cider or whaling;
Dormouse: (When awake) hoovering up all the leftovers;
Velcro: Pretending to be a casual social runner, having completed Mega-marathons;
Redeye: Zero tolerance non-running with a weird call, activated by a button on his back;
Tiller: Thinking that SH3 runs were an annual event at AGMs only;
Master Bates: Joining SH3 for 3 years, then fornicating his way around the planet and acquiring 3 wives and 18 kids.
What’s brown and sticky? A stick.
How many Hashers does it take to change a light bulb? You’re kidding, right?
My wife suggested we spiced things up a bit by playing doctors and nurses.
So, I put her on a trolley in the hall and ignored her for 5 hours.
I grilled a chicken for 2 hours. It still wouldn’t tell me why it crossed the road!
It turns out, Harry didn’t shoot 25 Taliban after all. He captured them and spent 3 hours telling them what an awful life he’d had. They shot themselves!
And now, a reminder of that Singapore Hash Crossword Puzzle, courtesy of Gibber.
After she was showered with accolades and thanks at the end of her Golden Age, our venerable GM bowed out and announced the new mismanagement:
GM: Uncle Gerry
JMs: Chunderos, Missing in Action, Bolshie
OnSec: RHUM
On Sec /Website/RS Publisher: Petal
RAs: Bigfoot, Belcher
Hash Cash & Biermeister: J Arthur
Harerazor / Clutcher’s mate: Atalanta
Dapperhasherie: Ms Bean
Assistant Biermeister: Tiller
Spare part – Bonn Bugle
Hash Cam – Master Bates
Saturday
Sunday
Editorial
Thanks from your outgoing GM
Dear SH3
Firstly a massive thank you to all you mad magnificent hashers for the incredible gifts you gave me this weekend. – a gold sparkly cape (fit for a queen), the essential lager party kid (you know me so well), the gorgeous flowers (classy!) and of course the gloriously inscribed goblet fit for any hash circle.
I was genuinely touched by your generosity and chuffed to bits by the appreciation from the best bunch of oddballs anyone could hope to stumble through the woods with.
Secondly I want to thank you all for the fantastic support you have given me over the past two years – it truly made the job of steering us toward our 50th year an absolute pleasure (well most of the time!) A huge thanks to everyone who played a part in making such a brilliant event whether you were a planner, a pourer, a pranced of just present and accounted for.
Our visitors were full of praise for the warm, slightly wobbly family that is SH3. The spirit of hashing is well and truly alive – and probably recovering somewhere in the Surrey countryside.
On On. Bonn Bugle
Order a celebration T-shirt while stocks last!
Our friend Shirt-lifter has enough materials to make a few more T-shirts. If you are quick you can still get your hands on one for £15. Order here.
Hi Gerry,
Thanks for taking the time to write such a lovely email. Loo and I are so pleased that you had a good time, it was certainly an evening we won’t forget and Loo enjoyed being asked to dance to Nut Bush City Limits, definitely a first!
Thanks again for your words, it was our pleasure to be a small part of a successful and lively evening. We were impressed with your dancing given you’re recovering from hip replacement surgery too!
We wish you a restful few days of relaxing, we hope that your recuperation continues to go well and hope to see you again.
Best wishes,
Martyn and Loo.
Pictures – Click to see many more pictures in this week’s albums! Saturday pictures, Sunday pictures.
You didn’t know we had a YouTube channel, did you? The video that showed during the evening can be found here.
In the peace of your own homes you will be able to hear the soundtrack (although parts have been redacted due to rights issues!) There are some very entertaining circles just after the halfway point.
Woke trigger warning – unsuitable for minors!
Trivia
In a letter to The Times this week:
You report that economists claim a pet can be just as good as a husband at providing domestic happiness. The English novelist Marie Corelli, writing in the late 19th century, discovered that she had no need for a husband as she had three pets that answered the same purpose: “a dog which growls every morning, a parrot that swears all afternoon and a cat that comes home late at night”.
Even this is out of date!
