Jogging through the buttercups

With Mersea Island Hash House Harriers (MIHHH)

It was a  beautiful Bank Holiday Monday and I had the usual struggle to balance gardening and running. Too much gardening leaves me unable to stand up properly and too tired to even think of running but there is so much to do at this time of year.

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Some lovely, healthy treats, hopefully, this summer
my tomato plants

So it was a compromise - just a couple of hours gardening in order to leave myself some energy to join the MIHHH runners in the evening. Even so I had to put on my running clothes early in the afternoon to stop myself getting too comfortable and not wanting to go out.

I picked up Becci and met Helen at Lexden Park, Church Lane, Lexden where we joined a small but keen group of runners.

Lexden Park - a hidden gem in Colchester

It was great to see Helen and both Becci and I were looking forward to running with her as we had a feeling she would love Hashing.

• Getting started
• Sight seeing en route
• The finish
• The Pub!
• Afterthoughts

Getting started

This was not good, I have to say, I immediately felt short of breath and sluggish. It was so bad I was a bit worried I would have to give up as we came out of Church Lane and crossed the road and headed uphill. At the top we stopped and had our instructions to head towards The Avenue of Remembrance and by the time we had reached Spring Lane roundabout I had recovered enough to realise I was ok. Becci pointed out that there was a lot of pollen about again this week.

Sight seeing en route

Helen and I posing in front of the "Vortices" sculpturewhilst everyone else
admires the park and enjoys a sweetie break

Apart from the name "Vortices" I have not been able to find out who the artist was who created the sculpture which can be rotated by pushing the base around. Quite spectacular for a children's playground. Interestingly, the playground was made of astroturf.

We also ran through the paths of riverside Cymbeline Meadows which were once cultivated with cereal crops but in 1990 they were sown with wildflowers and grasses to create a meadow which would be grazed by cattle in Spring and Summer. 

Cymbeline Meadows

Part of the trail took us through Charter Wood which is 10ha of mixed deciduous woodland planted in 1992 to mark the 800th anniversary of King Richard I (Richard The Lionheart) granting us a Charter of the Borough.

We saw some beautiful cowslips where the margins of the arable land has been left to wildflowers and grasses which encourage insects that will pollinate the crops. 

Along the riverside there are kingfishers and in Spring there are Nightingales in Charter woods and Noctual bats over the arable fields. Sadly for us we neither heard nor saw said wildlife but that is probably because a herd of Hashers dashing through the countryside is bound to frighten everything away.

The finish

We had a beautiful run through a meadow of buttercups towards the finish of our hash and as we headed up Spring Lane there was a very pretty cottage bedecked with festive bunting. 

Another good MIHHH trail

The Pub

We all made our way to The Prettygate pub afterwards where they seemed to be having an attempt at an Hawaiian themed evening with some garlands and a couple of people sporting floral shirts. Helen treated us to a much needed drink and we had a good chinwag before heading home.

Quite a lively local especially so when invaded by
several MIHHH's

Afterthoughts

It had been quite a warm evening and next time I am definitely going to remember to take some insect repellant as the air in places was thick with the little biting so and so's.

Running around Colchester proved to be quite educational. The housing estate we ran through in Braiswick was completely new to me and I would never have seen it but for this quirky trail. Altogether we covered about five miles (my watch was not as accurate for some reason).

Quirky would also be my word to sum up the whole experience this evening and I would't have missed it for the world.