On a recent public holiday, I decided to join the RLC Hash Run in Serendah, which started at about 5pm, an hour earlier than it would normally kick off on a regular weekday.
Hashing is a road/trail/jungle run that typically covers a distance of 6km to 7km. The objective is to chase the “hare” (the person who sets the trail), who leaves a paper trail that must be followed, in order to complete the run and be rewarded with an ice-cold drink. Each week, members of various Hash Chapters get together for the exercise, camaraderie and to de-stress.
It was an easy 45-minute drive via the New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE) to the Rawang exit before proceeding to the trail head, an open space just off the trunk road between Batang Kali and Serendah.
A recent shower left the ground soggy and wet, and my car tyres muddy. At 5pm, the blare of an air horn filled the air and off we went in search of clues left by the hare.
Following bits of paper, we started down a wet 3m-wide sandy path that was riddled with puddles that spanned the entire width at certain portions.
Running past a deserted brick building on the right, we trampled down a dirt path into an abandoned rubber plantation, walking on a single-track bitumen road that led us through undulating terrain with neat rows of rubber trees on all sides.
No hash run is complete without checkpoints (usually three to four) at regular intervals.
Deliberately designed to confuse, checkpoints are characterised by false trails that snake off in all directions with only one true trail continuing along the correct path.
While the lead runners fan out to find the correct trail, this allows the slower runners to catch up and narrow the gap. At the first checkpoint, I caught up with the frontrunners briefly.
They had just broken the first check, marking a side trail on the left clearly, for the rest to follow.
Walking through the thick undergrowth, I could hear the crunch of dried leaves under my feet and the swish of my pants brushing against the knee-high foliage.
Fallen trunks and a slippery downhill portion made the going slow until we emerged onto a clearing with long grass. The respite was brief and soon we were under the cover of trees once again.
This time, we walked and wound our way between rubber trees onto a proper road that was covered by patches of grass.
At the top of the single track, we descended a slope with loose gravel, taking a sharp left midway before continuing downwards. The winding trails, formerly used by rubber tappers, led us to a stream.
The stream crossing, while not difficult, required careful footing and patience, as crossing one person at a time was recommended.
A gentle slope brought us to a clearing of young saplings, where the paper trail led us on a roundabout route before hitting another slippery downhill.
The moisture rich ground was soft and damp. Unashamedly, I chose the hug-nearby-trees option over the sliding-on-my-bottom way down.
Having safely navigated the mushy portion with dignity intact, we were now on a grassy plain under the canopy of trees. We could see the edge of the forest and the entire length of a large structure.
Due to strong winds, the rubber trees here leaned to the right after long years of constant buffeting.
The terrain changed again as we entered a fruit orchard with scattered tall trees. Continuing on level ground, we walked along the fringe of the forest, passing several small huts.
Keeping my shoes clean was very challenging, given the muddy conditions. Faced with a trench that was too wide to jump across and a stone bridge totally covered by a layer of mud, the only option was to grit my teeth and just do it.
We crossed an open field, covering a lot of ground with a final uphill scramble to reach the bitumen road. A quick short-cut up a slope brought us to the home trail. A short while later, the double-lane track rejoined into the path we took earlier.
It was a mostly flat run with an elevation gain of only 82m. The front-runners-on-papers (FROP) clocked a finishing time of 68 minutes. I completed the entire 6.75km in just under two hours, at walking pace.
The evening ended with the customary “circle” and “on-downs”; a time to socialise, sing drinking songs and “charge” fellow hashers for trivial offences committed (real or imagined) before, during and after the run, all in good fun.
These ribbing sessions are best enjoyed by first mentally dialling down your IQ to below 40. A sumptuous dinner in Rawang wrapped up the night for the group of 40 hashers.
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