That running Bug!

From Just Helen

How I got the running bug

I started running a couple of years ago.  I was heading for the big 4 0 and wanted to do something to get a bit fitter and prevent the dreaded middle-aged spread.  I also wanted to do it as cheaply as possible – i.e. FREE.  One of my work colleagues told me that the hardest thing to do was actually fitting a new exercise regime into your daily life.  His advice?  Start small.  For the next 2 weeks I got up early every morning, put my newly acquired running gear on, walked about 200m down the road and then walked back again.  After a few mornings of doing this, I started making little changes like walking there and running back, before gradually increasing the distance.  Within a few weeks I was running about 1 mile around the block every other morning; I’d lost a bit of weight too - excellent!  I did a few longer off-road runs with my brother in law (a long-distance runner) and loved this sort of running but found that I needed more time for this – time I didn’t have every day.

I’d heard about the Hash House Harriers.  They all sounded a little eccentric to tell you the truth, so I continued with my early morning lonesome runs, knowing this was manageable for me.  I then bumped into a friend of my sister’s just before Christmas and after a long chat about something else, I picked up on the fact that she ran with a group.  This I questioned her about and learned that she also ran with the Hash House Harriers but the Wyre Forest group.  I looked them up on the internet (both the Wyre Forest and Malvern groups) decided that they were indeed all mad BUT I was still interested.  There was going to be a run that week, although I felt that Christmas wasn’t really the right time to join an established group.  After talking to another friend of mine about running and hashing, she agreed with me “they sound completely mad, let’s join!” 

 Our first hash was 29^th December 2011, a very muddy run!  My friend unfortunately sustained an ankle injury that night and is yet to return (although she assures me she will.  Meanwhile, I’ve become a more permanent fixture. 

And how I volunteered to be Hash Scribe

I was relaying the above story to the Amateur, the Professional and Tits or Treats once we had eaten and done the down downs after the first trail I had laid.  I had been talking about reading the Malvern HHH website to see what I was really letting myself in for.  I said I liked the reports about the runs (and the shenanigans afterwards) and that was what had sparked my intrigue.  I commented on the lack on Wyre Forest HHH reports, which was then met with “how about you do the blog then?!” from Game Bird.  This was followed up with “2 & a half pints and she’ll do anything!” from Shag (thank you, Shag!  That’s not quite true, I’ll have you know, but I did think, well, why not?) 

So here goes then!  On on…