Run 2676 – Skid in Palmyra

Skidding out on the Highway to Hell – Take 2
2020 saw the Highway to Hell Festival in Perth, tens of thousands of people lined Canning Highway for an event for the ages – would the 17th of August 2021 be the same? Well, there wasn’t quite thousands, but certainly 40 odd keen participants who gathered between the banks of our beautiful river and the curbs of the renowned Canning Highway.
After watching the typical back and forth and round and round of the bucket trying to park (I’ve seen semi-trailers fit into tighter spaces with less effort), and after a somewhat rowdy on on a group of a dozen or so runners headed off for the inevitable loop around Tompkins Park. Alas, this is where it started to come undone, half the pack, led by FT and Q, in an effort to short cut, tried to leap frog the more responsible runners (led by Barcode) but simply achieved the bypassing of a critical false trail. So while the Barcode team headed east along a loooooong and boring stretch of trail aside the river, FT and his mob decided to “go west young man” and do the run in reverse – I know those of the Gaulish decent are known for some level of oddity (driving on the wrong side of the road for a start) this really took the cake – or gâteau if you prefer.
Moving on…….when we did finally move away from the mighty Swan the trail took us somewhat predictably south up Wireless Hill where we passed FT, Q and Another Prick in the Wall heading in the wrong direction. When we finally did reach the summit however, despite searching for several minutes, the trail was lost to us. A vote was called and given the time, the clear consensus was to find the way down the hill and back to the bucket. Down the hill was not that simple though given Barcode decided to lead his dedicated followers down a goat track of sorts; but despite the incessant grumblings of Moses all made it safely to firmer ground, with even the evergreen Pitt making it through unscathed.
The circle issued its standard down downs for returnees, birthdays and anniversaries before the On Sec Ramrod delivered easily the joke of the decade to date, the hilarity was so immense Ramrod lost all composure only part way into the gag having to read lines between bouts of schoolgirl giggling. Sherlock took to the podium to once again highlight the casual and institutional racism which continues to permeate all levels of society. Polly’s rigged raffle was held and Stewie astonishingly not only had the winning ticket, but also drew the Joker!! Looking forward to a father son lunch at the pub Stewie, obviously your shout.
Nanny then did what Nanny does best, shout non-sensical stuff at people and incite roars of derision. He attempted to back up Ramrod’s excellent oratory with a joke of his own, how did it go? – FLAT – AS – A – PANCAKE. The hares were eventually called up and issued a near perfect score by the RA, astounding given half the runners lost the trail somewhere near the mid-point and the other half did the run backwards. The peaceful and affluent residents of Alfred Cove were then witness to a proud rendition of “We go hashing on a Monday…..” before the pack was treated to an excellent serving of hot, individually wrapped fish and chips.
Well done Skid and Grizzly, perfect weather, solid run and excellent fare. On on. Barcode