The Hope – Richmond 10 March 2016

West London Run MDXC
10 March MMXVI
The Hope – Richmond
Hare: Crap Nav
Scribe: More On

“When life is getting you down,
And you need a little hope.
Look deep down inside yourself,
And you’ll find the way to cope”

Crap Nav’s solution was to set a run, from the little Hope no less – a pub we haven’t visited in a long time. In fact, when we were gathering at the pub, most of those present were still reminiscing about the old days and the 30th anniversary the previous week.

Crap Nav, who lives in the vicinity and should know better, failed to check the Environmental Agency website, which had predicted severe flooding in Richmond. This was immediately apparent as we approached the River Thames near Twickenham Bridge, where there was a large lake and no visible towpath, but with Kaffir as a front runner, and with KC just managing to keep his head above water, the pack managed to follow bits of the river towards Richmond, at which point we crossed the bridge and followed some more bits of the river, towards Ham. Or some people did.

Once we crossed Richmond Bridge, there was a certain amount of peeling, as older members decided the beer on offer in the pub was more attractive than a trip to the Star and Garter, now that it’s no longer an old folks’ home.

Meanwhile, Wacker had picked up a large plank of plasterboard, and looked like Eric Sykes in the silent movie from the 1970s as he swayed about crashing into everything.

Back at the pub Lick a Pile eventually succeeded on organising a circle, but not before Mad Cow was heard complaining about the absence of water in the gents (when did he last wash his hands anyway?).

Rent Boy, who should have been the hare, but pulled out claiming that gout had stopped him from setting a run, was presented with an appropriate card, and Wacker was given advice on how to repair his ceiling. Martian Matron was rewarded for being a Rollback lookalike (Lick a Pile has a vivid imagination!) and Pope and Pickled Fart were penalised for failing to walk on water, Contour was accused of stripping in the street, and Crab Picker was heard calling for the RNLI on his mobile phone during the run.

And that was that. So thanks to Crap Nav for setting a run at short notice.

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