There are a large number of white powder markings around Abingdon. I did hear one person saying it might be rat poison. Another – probably jesting – tasted a bit off their finger and said it was Cocaine. Another said it was flour or chalk laid as part of a run, but Not The Abingdon Marathon.
Does anybody out there have any better ideas?
'Ah, Natural selection. Love it or loathe it, you cannot out-live it.'
Come off it, you're surviving…
I don't see that it can be a running route as we have some on our estate which is a complete closed in dead end!
it is flour and it does appear to be followed by runners. i saw some runners apparently following the symbols at night by the old anchor and they were not schoolkids, but no guarantee the flour was dropped for them. it looks like pancake mix after rain. i have heard this referred to as 'hash running', but don't know why.
Ah, Natural selection. Love it or loathe it, you cannot out-live it.
What's wrong with me tasting it? I just wanted to make it sure it wasn't anthra..aaaaaaaaggh.
A new tropical disease, 'dynamitis', has been discovered in the common pigeon, which causes it to literally explode. This has been proven by a doctor of animal science in oxford, doctor icle. he realised this was occurring after performing a simple test.icle said "Pigeons normally feed on seeds, corn, and any food lying around on the street. However, a pigeon with this disease will eat a small amount of food, and then simply explode".All that remains of the pigeon is a pile of white ash, which you seem to be mistaking for flour.
Hen night i recon so i think it's fairy sick, Tinkerbell is getting married on Saturday
Perhaps it's some thoughtful old bloke who can't cope with GPS but wants to ensure he can find his way home after a skinful at the boozer !
As with 'Hare & Hounds' the jolly jape for everyone else is to make spoof drops to corrupt the trail.
How dull. A cocaine drop would have been much more exciting
I think you'll find it's the Scouts following a treasure trail.
Sounds likely to be a school run. The flour is about every ten metres or so in places – so cannot be missed. At my school they just let us get lost on our cross country runs.
Hang on… someone found some unidentified white powder on the floor, dipped their finger in it and tasted it?
How's that for a contender for the Darwin awards?
When I was at school we used to do a special kind of cross country run where one runner was the "hare" who used to lay a trail by dropping flour or rice on the floor, and the rest of us were "hounds" who had to follow the trail and catch the hare. Could that be it?
OMG, its flour. i was driving through town the other day and saw a man just pour flour on the floor and walk away. my wife and i was bemused as why he did this, but it IS flour.
Probably the Hash House Harriers. The 'hare' lays a trail in chalk and flour for 'hounds' to follow. It started in Malaysia before the war – Hash House meant the curry house they adjourned to afterwards. I was a founder member of the London Hash in 1976. There are various local groups now. See
http://www.oxfordh3.org/
Michael