Run-site: Genting Valley, Ulu Rening
Hares: Mary Morss & the 1-Borneo team
Scribe: Bob Morgenthaler (again)
"Hi, this is Jerry French. I'll be late to the run .. can you scribe for me?"... Check!!
Okay... Excitement was in the air! It was the 1st (hopefully annual) Gawai Day Run! Finally an event to lose your head over. The Sarawakians / Sabahans had been working hard cooking food, brewing tuak, and preparing penganan. The runsite ("Genting Valley") looked great - canopies set up, sound system, cooking fires. Everyone was expecting a good run and a fantastic evening, and did the 1Borneo team deliver! Yay!
The run started up one of the usual entrance points with the usual climb straight up. Soon we were on the back trails where the hares did a good job keeping the pack close together with some decent checks. Just when most of us guessed that they would play it safe on the regular trails in this area, the hares cunningly headed through the bush, over some muddy creeks and into the Orang Asli village. It's always fun to get to say hello to the locals and have a few kids and chickens join the pack. Once again a good check in the village slowed up the FRBs before we finally found the path across the river and through some farm fields. A bunch of hills (perhaps just a few too many-ugh!) later we finally stumbled back to one of the usual paths home, where we were welcomed with traditional, home-brewed tuak and a 1Borneo Sarong! Woo-woo! A beautiful, diverse run that was about 9km with the front runners in at about a buck and a half.
Then the fun started. Our chameleon-like GM appeared this week as a Sarawakian chief complete with loin-cloth, spear, and a little head between his legs. Adding to the atmosphere were the beautiful Borneo women dressed in traditional clothes and certainly catching a few heads of their own! A short circle ensued as the full, sumptuous buffet meal was alluring the hungry runners. The dishes (too many to remember all!) included wild boar in curry, fish cooked in bamboo, chicken/bamboo and a wide range of amazing deserts! What a treat!!
Of course no Gawai Festival would be complete without games and entertainment. There was a blowpipe competition with defective blowpipes and/or blowers, a loin-cloth tying contest that was too ugly to watch (next year let's use women!!), and a hilarious skit involving a village chief, his promiscuous daughter, and her very well-hung but otherwise worthless boyfriend. You can guess what happened...
An amazing evening generously provided by a bunch of wonderful hashers! We look forward to next year!!
Posted by onsec at June 5, 2010 03:24 PM