Fairest Isle

A local Vindobona Hash run on the day of Brexit has finished and the uniting spirit of the Hash House Harriers brings the partakers together for many a drink tonight. In spite of all the craziness that these last three and a half years have produced regarding the B word, here is my musical tribute to Great Britain. The Hash House Harriers got started by an Englishman as we all know. I do hope to see the day when Great Britain (or England - and of course Scotland) will rejoin the European project.





Here is an a account on what happened during and after that run, provided by Lord Glo-Balls, OVH:

"After an excellent run set by King Ralph (with 16 Hashers), supported by yours truly in bringing the beer, we retired to the Centimeter VII pub with a private room in the cellar. After consuming a 11 litre barrel of specially brewed beer and eating some good food (spare ribs etc), we had a quiz on UK and EU dates and other matters. After a begging letter from King Ralph, the European Commission had sent us a Surprise package including T-shirts and baseball caps  which were used as prizes for the quiz.  At midnight, we had a coffin draped in EU and UK flag, followed by the ceremonial removal of the UK flag. Finally we sang Auld Lang Syne holding hands with arms crossed (just like the MEPs in the EU Parliament). I have attached the words of the song. This poem was written by Robert Burns (famous Scottish writer) and is traditionally sung at midnight on New Years eve, to celebrate old friendship, like between the UK and the EU."

Sh-Boom

And it was back to the old Powderfactory near Blumau in the south of Vienna where many a run had been set by Deodorant in former years. The History of this place has been linked to former run reports on this blog, here is one example (and here is another one) and I am leaving the other sources to this place's unfortunate history to your detection.

In the beginning 

As usual, prerun explanations were given that this is a restricted area on most days of the year and yet the World's Worst always seems to find a loophole to look around this very strange place. Running and crawling between ruins, up and down ascents and descents that are a threat to ones ankles and stumbling trough pitch-dark and dusty tunnels all form ingredients of a traditional run that always leads to a pleasant interruption in form of a drink stop, this time it was Glühwein in the Hare's garden.

Going in and out the usual huge number of ruins, all ended well with the carpark coming up again after the better part of an hour. Newboot Just Eamonn from a very interesting drinking place (Irish Bar) in Vienna got formally introduced to the fold after having made his debut at the Red Dress run on New Years Eve. 

Here are the Moron Pics for this run. 

Of Lads and Lasses

Another so-called local tradition is the annual Epiphany walk which started a long time ago in 2002. We felt like hiking up into the hills walking off from Gumpoldskirchen train station. By means of explanation: Hashers at the Worlds Worst do not just like frolicking, running, drinking, be merry and all that. There are also quite a few serious and not-so-extreme walkers around, and 20 of these waited for us when we - S.Energy and I - arrived at the given time with 2 kids and 2 dogs.

Long time no see Scarlett Pimpernell was there, the Final Kuntdown and the Red Aunt made a rare appearance and on a very sunny day it was on off uphill into the woods. with fond Memories of two Eurohash runs that have been set in this area in 2017. A comfortable 100 minutes later the first watering hole was reached, which was the wonderful Proksch Hütte with fine beer (Murauer) and tasty Pea Soup with sausage, thats what I had. A nice place to go to and a recommendation if you happen to be in that area one day.

Afterwards, it was downhill in the slippery mud. Two slip-slidings down into the mud by yours truly later Mr. Pink, A.N.A.L. and daughter came our way and in jolly fashion we all went to a glorious Heurigen in Gumpoldskirchen to finish off this walking tour in a suitable way.

Epiphany Wino Walkers 

Happy Hashers at a Heurigen

By the way, we haven't had runs starting from the Krapfenwaldlbad in a long time, nein?

Add a little peace of mind

The annual Silvesterlauf once around the Ringstrasse in Viennas centre with its usual intricacies is a fitting end point for every Hashing year of the Worlds Worst. Since the official start of this run, organ-sized by another serious local runnning group has been moved one and a half kilometres away from our usual gathering point outside the Cafe Schwarzenberg, it was decided to meet there anyway and start to run before the official starting time at 11 a.m. Two climbing ropes to hold onto were provided for the runners and the walkers alike. Being carried by the female Powerhouses Daisy Balls and Kuty Pi the running team raced of at a quarter to eleven, only having to stop again near the official start a bit further on. This in turn gave the walking group a chance to catch up and start all together.

The usual big crowd at the official starting line delayed our start by several minutes, and then it was crossing through the masses with the climbing rope, a bit like a serpent. I sadly have to admit that I couldn't keep the pace and had to let the rope runners go. Or run rather. More exercise with the same amount of libation shall be the motto for this year. After the run, another fine circle outside of Flanagans Pub. Newbie Eamon, who runs the Green Room Irish Bar opposite the Metropol music theatre was the Newbie of the day. After the circle, usual routine inside the post office, to the left of the beer counter.

A few stalwarts carried on running to the official finish line to get their official medals (The Famous Pimpsqueak being one of them). All in all, a fine Hashing year came to its conclusion. Thanks.

Here are the official Moron Pics.

Prince of Barkness inflated 

German stars

A Happy Hasher in a well known place 

via GIPHY