Moonlight Half Marathon at Bangalore Hash

Run # 411, was to celebrate 16 years of BANGALORE HASH. A Moonlight Half Marathon followed by a Big Bash happened on Saturday, 8th April.

ONCE IN A BLUE MOON....
LET YOUR WILD SIDE ....
ROAM THE COUNTRYSIDE ..
UNDER THE FULL MOON !

The agenda: A clear star studded, summer night sky, and the countryside bathed in moonlight. And hashers walking / running amidst the country roads...with the cool summer breeze in their faces...far away from pollution and the humdrum of the city!
Run back to a bonfire, music by hash deejay, hash brew from Kingfisher and dinner.
While away the night in the company of your dear one or comrades from the hash....rock to retro music....spend the nite amidst nature's glory!

The run site was WRAC, an exotic resort some 10kms from IIMB, off Bannerghatta road. There were tracks for half marathon and for half-half marathoners. I reached the run site when there was daylight and didn’t have problems locating the place. This time around “Runners for Life” were also invited. I saw a few familiar faces from the previous marathons and lots of new faces. There were 16 of us who started for the half marathon, at around 7:15. The moon was hazy and we knew why we were asked to carry those torches.
The track was one that required endurance more than stamina, a mix of tarmac and cross country, soft earth to gravel to hard tarmac. The uneven earth meant that there was high risk of injury on this run, so the pace had to be slow. You could say that again for ligament torn runners (read – me).We had to run down 5kms to the water spot and then take another route back to the resort. Then do the second lap.
I was doing good on the time till I lost my way on the run back, overshot some 2 kms before, I turned back, which painfully added to the time and fatigue. When I got back, deliberating if it was worth completing the run, a whole lot of half-half marathoners had just begun their run. I guess there were some 50 hashers in this run. I joined Ashwin (friend from my CAT prep days who I met there after 3yrs) and Siddarth (mustached guy with a ponytail) through out the second lap.

I finished 3 hours and four bottles of water later (dunno why, but the water just kept flowing down). By the time I got back the party had started, beer was doing rounds. The ice-block ceremony happened, certificates were distributed, half marathoners were given the ice treatment. Then the dance floor came alive with curvaceous creatures. After a half marathon, with every muscle in the legs crying for rest, its amazing how ‘the forces’ still pull you into the dance floor.

I had no plans of staying overnight nor participate in the recovery run in the morning. With Sathish and Rutu following in their car, I left the place at 1am. There is a long, winding dirt path till the main road. I overtook a couple of cars to avoid the dust and was ahead of the pack. And suddenly there was this traffic in the opposite direction – four jeeps. As I passed the fourth one, I noticed the POLICE sign.
And that is when the drama began to unfold…
Sound – I cut throttle and waited in silence
Lights – on the moonlit night, in waited for the headlights in the rear view mirror to move
Action – scraped out of not-so-desirable action

The cops intercepted the cars, a couple of cars were let off, and the rest were made to accompany a constable to the Bannerghatta police station for a statement. The cops, meanwhile proceeded to WARC to ensure that there was no live dance band playing. The party had to stop, thanks to the uninvited guests, the beer seized (now, u know where those pot-bellies come from!) and everyone made to leave autographs at mama’s place. The cops were supposedly tipped off that there was a live band playing somewhere and they had planned a massive raid headed by a DCP. After high drama, visit to the station, and autographs hashers left for their homes by 3am. For the first time, HASH ‘ran’ into cop trouble.
I only had a second hand version of what happened. It reinforced what I have been saying all along “Everyone makes way for a Bullet”, on that night… cops included!!!

Ps: There are other things to worry about in life apart from the beer, but if you are still thinking about it, how about we raid the station this Saturday??