1111 - an appreciation

It would be easy to dismiss Saturday's run as the demented product of a deranged mind with sadistic tendencies, so let's take the easy way out and say that Saturday's run was the demented product of a deranged mind with sadistic tendencies. Not that there weren't some excellent trails and great views, but as we slid down the backside of the hill near the Chinese temple that "Why the **** am I doing this?" question raised it's ugly head just for a second or two. By that time half the pack had become detached from the Hatyai tendency, largely because they had attempted to short-cut up the hill avoiding the false trail that should have sent them down into the jungle again, before ascending the hill by a different route, thereby ending up going down the hill before meeting Conebrain coming up the hill by the correct route (got that?). Then just as things seemed to be back under control, it all seemed to fall apart at the end as the paper, which had rarely been better than patchy, became less and less prolific and finally seemed to disappear completely just as it hit the short run which by all accounts had been erratic, and didn't actually lead back to the run site. The upshot was that just about everybody ended up on the road and Conebrain, whose disappearance was greatly exaggerated, took the sensible decision to miss out the runsite altogether and head directly to the restaurant.
From that point everything got better and better. The end of the circle (always a good sign) coincided with the beginning of the rain and more or less with the serving of the food. The kids disappeared into the karaoke room and shut the sound-proof doors which didn't quite stifle the sounds of pitiful agony emanating from within. The beer kept mysteriously appearing even after the generously donated Leo had expired, and casks and flagons of wine of various hues and flavors did the rounds. Eventually at about 10 o'clock it was decided to move the party to Softy and Temp's house where it teetered on until about 2:00 p.m. accompanied by champagne, Elton John and Bruno Mars. Remarkably some of the party animals made it to HH3 the following day (see below) many didn't!
Thanks to Stick Insect for a memorable afternoon and evening and for his generosity in sponsoring the T-shirts commemorating his achievement as well as the wonderful food at Tung Jaeng. Thanks also to those who sponsored the beer, notably, Sex Sprinter, Porn Star and Ru Man Kap, and the wine, particularly Softy and Temp and whoever produced the champagne later which helped keep the party afloat.