Hare and hound

Having a day off from running today after back-to-back weekend Hash runs.

For anyone who hasn't heard of the Hash House Harriers (H3).... it is a non-competitive running club set-up by Brits abroad. It is designed for people to run off the excesses of the weekend. And then to re-indulge in all those excesses at the end of the run. All members have a Hash Tag. And to anyone who have seen hashers running around led by a 'hare' blowing a bugle and periodically shouting 'on, on'....you will understand why the Brits are viewed as eccentric, if not plain weird.

This weekend was no exception. The first run on Saturday was through a Bird Sanctuary. But a proper 'sanctuary' as in...it was in the middle of the bush. There were huge spider webs everywhere (beware yellow females...apparently). So I picked a suitably tall US marine to run behind and off I went not really knowing whether to look down (thus avoiding rocks, snakes, thorn bushes) or up (spiders webs everywhere). I am a city girl and am not really suited to this, but I persevered.

And then the really weird run on Sunday. It was the annual fundraising run for the Cheshire Homes of Lusaka (founded by the famed WW2 Dam Buster Leonard Cheshire). The home in Lusaka provides free orthopaedic operations and care for some severely handicapped children. So, a worthy cause....

BUT, the annual wheelchair run was not a sanitised affair of putting an able-bodied Hasher in a wheelchair and pushing them through central Lusaka....oh no! About 30 handicapped children were 'run' at breakneck speed through the city followed by a flatbed truck to carry those who couldn't walk and didn't have a wheelchair. The truck probably hadn't seen a professional mechanic in the past 20 years and as for seatbelts - Ha! This was full on fundraising and with the amount raised I assume the means justified the ends.

As a runner who didn't push a wheelchaired child, I led the runners and ran most of the checkpoints in the African midday sun. As I was shouting...checking 1, checking 2...On, On, I realised I am as bloody weird as the rest of them....

If you would like to donate to this worthwhile cause, you can do so online at....

http://www.justgiving.com/LH3WheelchairRun2013