Jungle Run

Well I finally went on a Hash Harriers run. I'd heard about the group through a friend at SFU (Jill J. at LIDC) and she said I should run with them. I had looked them up but their website was old and out of date so I thought they were gone. I met a guy at the gym and he mentioned I should join him. Well what an adventure. I got picked up after work and off we went to a suburb of Colobo and parked off the side of a side road where there was a 15 foot cliff, oh, no, that was in Stockbridge MA... Anyeay, it was off in the jungle among the rice paddy fields. So off we went and it was MUDDY, very muddy. The run is sort of a run sort of a scavenger hunt as you follow piles of confetti and every now and then they mark a turn around spot where you have to go back and find a hidden new route within 100m. The run took us through the paddies, through the jungle, through peoples yards and down streets, driveways and back lanes. It was great. Running in the padies is a bit hard though as the trail is about a foot wide with water on either side and as more people run along it they start to collapse. Within 5 mintues I had stepped into mud up to my knee and was soaked. At one point there was a jump off a wall and across a ditch about 8 feet high. I tried to jump down with minimal impact and ended up falling back over the edge and down into the ditch. Luckily it wasn't too full but I was now soaked. Finally the group started to split up and so I stuck with the biggest group and followed them back to the vehicles. It was good but I was worried as it was getting dark and my ride was missing. I was worried that he was out looking for me and as it got later I worried more. Finally he showed up but had to run as he was late to pick up his son so there I was with a group of strangers... They then did the circle ceremony which was very strange indeed. It was all men and they took turns telling crude jokes and stories and toasting and singing to each other. It had started to rain and after two hours of standing in the POURING monsoonal rain my ride was ready to go. Luckily the rain had washed all the crap off me and I was cleaner but a lot colder. I was frozen. I didn't think hypothermia was possible in Sri Lanka!! Only me! I wish I had Cher take a picture of me when I got in but I headed right for the bath... Maybe next time....