#2/100 - The running of the clowns.

I swore to myself I wouldn't make this blog entirely about running, but more about my life in general but since a big part of my life is running you're just going to be stuck with the topic every now and then over the next 100 days.

Last night was the second time ever we hired a baby-sitter for my four year old son. He's my one and going to be my only and it terrifies me to some point that I will eventually have to leave him in the care of another human being who may not have  the emotional (and financial) commitment that I have to my child. That being said, it's illegal to mistreat people so I think if I find harmless enough, poor and bored college girls around my town that I might have a good chance of finding something who would like their future to remain out of prison and therefore treat my son well. I pity the fool who mistreats my small human.

The best part about this particular baby-sitting experience is that I had to explain ahead of time that I would, one, be in costume and two, be in costume as a creepy clown. I felt the forewarning was going to be my best bet than to just let her show up and see me in all my glory and possibly lose out on what could have potentially been a great baby-sitter/child provider relationship. 

So why was I dressed as a clown, you ask? To explain this I must first explain what hashing is. I'm in a hash group. A hash group goes on hash runs. A hash run is kind of like a game of hide and seek with beer. There are two groups. A small group of runners set up a course in town, usually starting at a bar. The second group is the large group of runners who then gives the first small group a head start. The small group is called the "hares' and the large group is called the "hounds." Get it? The hounds chase the trail of the hares. The hash runs are always (almost) themed. The hares mark the trail using flour and specific markings telling you where to go next. Arrows, dots, stars and acronyms lead you to your next desitnation and the goal is simple: find beer.

Now that you know what a hash run is, picture about 30 people. They are dressed up as clowns. They are carrying flash lights and wearing running shoes. They are running through the streets and yelling directions to the other clowns as to where to run next. Their eyes are hungry. They want beer. To the muggle eye (non-hashing folk) it could be quite terrifying to say the least.

So last night I paid someone to watch my son so that my husband could go play drums in one of his bands and so that I could go run with my friends dressed up like clowns. If that doesn't sound like we've figured some kind of balance of life out, than I'm not sure what else a person could do to stay sane.