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| 9.5 km genom en delvis mycket tuff terräng |
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| Skymning över djungeln, kl 18.57 på kvällen. Fotograf Mats Lingblad. Jag passerade platsen 5 min tidigare |
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Glad över att vara först tillbaka i mål.
Hash flash (ficklampan som vi fick vid starten visade sig vara nödvändig) |
Anders Berglund firar 20 år av hash i Singapore med att lägga dagens lopp. Alla förutsättningar för en intressant löpining fanns där; regnet hade slutat, det var ett busslopp (mao från A till B) och det utlovades ny intressant terräng. Dessutom delade Anders ut en "hash flash" till alla deltagare och det skulle visa sig att den ficklampa var välbehövlig. Något oväntat slutade det med att jag blev först tillbaka på långa turen som tog mig 1h & 45 min för 9.5 km och det var helt klart de mest utmanade 9.5 km jag sprungit på länge.
Här är Anders beskrivning av terrängen och spåret. Notera särskilt beskrivningen av Western loop.
An extremely tough and difficult path followed along the edge of the quarry and lit by glow sticks. Without the “Hash Flash” almost impossible to navigate…
...through more difficult and thorny hell...
Eastern loop –
lazy run around Mandai shooting range
Start
at the entrance to what once was Mandai Orchid Gardens. The Hash Trail straight
up following an old trail to an old farmer’s plot, after which it turned right
down to an old dirt road. Short road run
left to first circle check. Trail to be find up ahead and then left through a swampy grass area into the
woods and soon up to the northern end of the shooting range. Up left through a
bit of high grass and onto the trail that leads down to one of the pointed bays
of Upper Seletar Reservoir. T-check along the northern shoreline. Trail found straight south to cut over the
cape to the southern shore and then along the shoreline west all the way to the
extension of old Track 15. T-check to the left, trail to be found to the right,
then a short cut through the woods and onto the mountainbike track. Follow this track north for a few hundred
meters after which the trail went left into the shiggy. A few twists and turns
later, down a grassy sloop and over a stream and up to second circle inside a
half completed jungle hut. The trail
found to the left and then along the path/road up to BKE where the trail merged
with the old farts walk for about 100m.
Western loop – including
possibly one of the toughest trails ever – not for the fainthearted
After
crossing under BKE on the tarmac road, both Hash Trail and Old Fart’s Walk went
straight left onto the grassy pipeline area and to the second split point. Sign board: Hashers left (5km), Old Fart’s
right (2.2km)… (How difficult could it
be…!!??)
Hash
Trail up the steps to the left (common T-check place but not this time!!!) and
onto the high ridge along BKE for 600-700 m, then down right and back to the
grassy pipeline path. Continue south and a final circle check. Trail up ahead
(south) and soon turning right into the woods where it followed old trails all
the way down to KJE. Through some farmer’s plot, down under KJE and through the
racing tracks for radio controlled dirt cars. After a few hundred meters, the
trail went up north west and zig zagged along various old trails up to the
military test drive area. 600 m road run
and then straight into the shiggy on the left. An extremely tough and difficult
path followed along the edge of the quarry and lit by glow sticks. Without the
“Hash Flash” almost impossible to navigate… Up a steep sloop, aided by a rope,
through more difficult and thorny hell and down to Mandai Quarry Road (west
entrance). Over the road, down a “step
drain”, sharp left turn and up to the higher grounds, once again with the help
of a rope. A bit of more glow stick
aided shiggy and out on the dirt road, where the trail went left and then onto
a grassy path on the high ridge over the new Woodland Road MRT depot and
eventually turning right through shiggy and high grass and finally onto the
path that lead the hasher down and over the stream and HOME.
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