It's natural to feel pride when a plan comes neatly to fruition, so the previous Mismanagement [who look very much like the current mismanagement ... ed] should allow themselves to feel proud of Run 1500 and especially it's aftermath, the very entertaining bet-fest surrounding the fine meal at Henlow Greyhound Stadium.

We'll start with the main event, the 1500th (well more or less, we won't split Hares) Run of the Hare and Hounds Hash House Harriers. It must be admitted, the venue was chosen because it is 200 yards from the dog track, but it couldn't have been bettered and is fast becoming an H5 favourite: more on that later.

The Hare arrived early to dish out the especially printed t-shirts with Lady P keen to recruit for Posh Nosh (December 14th - make sure you save the date). They both soon had customers as the usual early birds were there for worms, to be eventually followed by late arrivals Pecker, looking a little sickly poor lad, and Subby, both doomed to be easy pickings for RA Forking when it came to down-downs.

The circle recognised birthdays for Double Entry and Major Jon, the latter having turned up for her 1500 shirt to be told that Edwina 123 had already taken it. Thus a surprise birthday present lost its element of surprise. Edwina was not deterred, he had another card to play: a birthday meal at Henlow Dogs. He was on a winner.

The Hare warned of slippery shiggy and promised a short run, "old school" style where FRBs are given their heads and allowed to run without fear of fancy number checks and other attempts to "keep the pack together". He neglected to mention the risk of arrest posed by the MoD should they stray too far off trail: fortunately we didn't seem to lose anyone of importance.

It was great to see, in the distance, Ringer on the long falsie to the left, Depth Charge in the shiggy field ahead and Rapid on trail to the right. These 3, with support from Edwina, made a fine FRB group and lead by Rapid had a lucky spell when trails were picked, before falling to the Hare's coup de grâce. A tricky footpath to the right was missed and the leading pack went a good quarter of a mile on to the A600 before realising they had skipped a bar. Classic stuff, thoroughly enjoyed by the guys.

We were ON INN just after noon and in the main changed into regulation 1500 Shirts to see an indoor performance from virtuoso RA Forking (they don't have external facilities ... and it was cold). Plenty of down-downs for plenty of reasons, some routine some bizarre, and of course including the obligatory self-award.

TOTAH usually welcomes patrons at 14:00 but agreed to open two hours early to accommodate H5. So we had a venue of ideal size to ourselves and were served great real ales by 3 friendly staff. Heaven. And well done Bangers who called for "Three Cheers for the Bar Staff" as we left: we will be back.

Then it was time to GO TO THE DOGS. Catch IT, God Bless Her, battled long and hard against the administration of the HGS restaurant and came out victorious. Having picked up a few aprés, 26 of us had a good value meal, great service and a fine view of the racing. Well done and thanks Catch IT.

The dogs performed well over 14 races, giving us something to cheer to the last and with a couple of photo-finishes. Betting was easy and the tote were quite happy to accept £1 a race from most of us: some hashers even claimed to have picked a few winners after we spotted that trap 1 seemed to pay dividends. The Count thought that his return of minus £1 for the afternoon was good value for the thrill of seeing a few winners romp home.

The 9th race was THE HARE & HOUNDS HASH HOUSE HARRIERS STAKES sponsored at great expense (about two quid a head) and again worth every penny [too much on value did roadkill write this ... ed]. We were given a good choice of appropriate hound names including two called after hash mutts: Millys Delight and Rockview Jack. But many of us went for Fiddly Diddly owned by The Hooves And Hound Syndicate.

The eventual winner of the 16.48 disappointed most but found favour with some, none more than Nicey. He cheered Westmead Margo home from way before she went in the unfashionable trap 6 and was thrilled when he had the opportunity to meet her as part of the select presentation party. So enthusiastic was he that the trainer let Nicey keep the winners trophy!

All in all a fantastic day, thoroughly enjoyed by all hashers who took part – that's been said a few times recently and once again it's true.

ON ON TO CAMPTON

THE COUNT