It should have been Eva. In her place we got Mike Murphy and Rick Chann, on the face of it, double value. Your scribe is also a substitute, the Figurehead, probably half value. The hares started at Columbus Circle and finished at the Raccoon Lodge, York/75th, prima facie the makings of a reasonable run. Then the double value kicked in. The park was ignored and the pack set off to the south west to reach 11th Ave. Some checked to 12th but the trail edged its way east and mainly south as far as 36th street, through locked buildings. Pavement pounding continued via a multiplicity of checks and zigzags, Park south of Grand Central, the east side, Park north of Grand Central, the east side, to a monstrous check hidden on the up ramp to the Queensboro bridge. The worst was feared, tested but could not be found. Neither could the trail. Most of the pack sought help through George Washington - In God We Trust - spurned only by Crofty, with better things to with his quarters. One indicator of the success of a trail is the inverse percentage call-in rate. These hares achieved the high 80's. The general consensus, it wouldn't have been too bad for a Summer Sunday but . . . the Raccoon Lodge was compensation enough, they even lowered the volume for the downings. Forget the running, we only do it to get to the beer, food and conviviality. Talk was on the usual topics, Clinton peccadillos and Sadam mortal sins, interspersed with mindless hypnotic sports timeouts and the occasional cultural gem. To want much more may be hubris, on and out. Those who missed are reminded that the Chinese New Year contributed ethnic fare.