Anxiously awaiting the pack, Ariane and Miho strategically positioned themselves in the middle of Columbus Circle. While exiting the subway and looking for the start, I suddenly heard some cheerful voices calling: "Rudy, Rudi!" Of course, my first thought was: "Hmmm. Has the mayor become a hasher?" Anyway, everybody managed to safely cross that rather busy intersection to pool at the start.

The hares welcomed our visitors and briefly explained the rules of the game. Alison, however, couldn't wait for the safety instructions to finish and took off as the front runner. We hit the first check on 57th St. + Central Park South and it turned out to be quite a teaser. Even the most experienced NYC hashers were scavenging an area of at least five blocks until someone finally found the trail half-a-mile into the park heading north. After the obligatory zigzagging we exited the Park at the Museum of Natural History hoping that we may end up at Jake's Dilemma or Dive 75. Wrong guess! The trail actually lead us further north, this time to encounter a treacherous back check on Amsterdam Ave. Well, it allowed us to explore the beauty of the Upper West Side, which was much appreciated by our visitors from abroad.

Next, we crossed the West Side Highway running through a rather dim lighted underpass with peculiar odors. At this point, visitor Michael from Aberdeen, a 6.5 footer, joyfully exclaimed: "How magnificent, this is real New York", and safely guarded me through this bleak area. After enjoying the scenery of the Riverside Park, the trail directed us back to the concrete jungle towards Lincoln Center. There, the hares came up with a nice gimmick, namely a free escalator ride. That thing really worked and was a welcomed break for Paul. A couple of blocks more and we finally reached the On-In at 58th St. + 8th Ave located dangerously close to the start. But, needless to say, our veteran hares didn't screw up the run.

Coliseum Bar is quite cozy, however, we had to struggle for room with some softball enthusiasts, a sport that doesn't require much perspiration. Realizing that they couldn't compete with our opulent imbibing ceremony, conducted by On-Sec Geoff Baldwin, these softballers soberly left with their tails between their legs. Down-Downs were given to the hares, the visitors, and Roy and Ewa for something that had to do with 'wetness', probably some watery weather conditions. Civilian JM David Croft got penalized for confusing the last Winter Wednesday Hash with a black tie event. While fellow countryman Wulf, on the other hand, managed to evade justice for his continuing lascivious stretching exercises in front of Hash bars.

All in all, it was a very successful evening thanks to Ariane and Miho who not only set an exciting run but also spoiled us with plenty of liquid and solid food.

And for my part, while scribbling these notes I come to realize that the duties of hashing involve more than just drinking beer.