A wet one

Yesterday's HH3 run will probably go down as being memorable for all  the wrong reasons as the culmination of 3 days' rain almost caused both runs to be called off.

Setting the long run on Sunday morning as the rain fell steadily, the hare noted the crossing  of the first stream to be a little wider than had been the case on the recce earlier in the week, and towards the end of the lay, observed that the crossing of a second stream  was a little wet under foot, but nothing to be concerned about at that stage of the run.

Come the afternoon however, the hare having left the short run to be set immediately before the off, discovered that the first stream at the point where the short run was due to cross it on the in trail, a little lower down its course than the first crossing on the out trail, had, to put it mildly, become rather swollen and in an effort to find a more comfortable point upstream,  eventually arrived back at the first crossing point which was by then in the middle of a raging torrent. Finding himself on the other side of the river to the run site, the hare then made the decision to cross and was promptly swept away, only managing to stop himself by grabbing hold of some vegetation on the opposite shore on a bend. At that point neither run seemed feasible as both had to get across the river, and the short run had to somehow cross it twice. Nevertheless after some disbelieving looks from the assembled packs at the suggestion that the runs should be abandoned, hare, Kai Jeow aided by Lady of the Lamp and Knobshot set off with a skein of rope to try to construct a safe (albeit aqueous!) river crossing, but in the event, with a conveniently discovered tree trunk, were able to erect a makeshift bridge by wedging it behind two handily located trees and then use the rope as a handhold (Beaver please note, you would have been proud of our efforts), across which the long run, swiftly followed by the short run crossed while Sex Printer braved the rapids to hold the log steady. Not only that, but the short run having no other crossing point later made the perilous journey back across the river using the makeshift bridge a second time, this time without the steadying influence of Sex Printer.

Meanwhile the long run reached the beer stop in about 1hr 15mins from whence the hare had intended to transport them back to the run site to avoid their crossing of the second stream which by the sound of it was probably even more dangerous than the first. The pack had different ideas however and Kai Jeow was forced to set off with the soggy remains of a bag of paper and relay the end of the run to take it via what was a marginally less wet crossing a little downstream and thus to complete the whole run.

For the record, the long run with four fairly modest F's and no X's was 7.5k, and the short run with only one F was 3.9k. The long run ascended 354m to a maximum height of 297m with the short run climbing to 157m and descending to a low point of 80m. Thanks to all for not giving up and not getting drowned in the process, and to my two fellow bridge-builders for their invaluable assistance in the absence of a real beaver. Thanks also to Star Soccer for the gift of beer and to the HH3 cook-team for a sumptuous spread on a less than clement day.

Whack, whack, whack!

Hmmm....

This week's SH3 run is being set by Sex Sprinter and the run site is on the other side of the big tree-Khun Thong road almost opposite where we were (or weren't in most cases!) last week. Details are:

Songkhla Hash House Harriers' run #1897, Saturday November 4, 4:30 p.m.
Hares: Sex Sprinter and Buk Toy
Misdirections: From the Kao Saeng intersection  take the old Yala road for 16k and turn right before Wat Khun Thong. Go 1.5k and turn left for about 500m. Follow indications to the run site either in the rubber on the left at 7.037663°N 100.643658°E, or, depending on accessibility, up at the top of the small hill immediately ahead. Hatya'isters should get to Tha Kham and go East for about 6k to the big tree then go straight ahead for another 2k and the turning is on the right.

HH3's run on Sunday is being set by Kai Jeow and the run site is out Nern Pijit way: From the old Hatyai road, 4.6k turn, go 10k (2k beyond Wat Keow Kloy) and turn left. After 150m follow the road round to the left and then for a further 2.1k to the runsite at 7.016616°N 100.598455°E.

On Friday night there is a quiz night at the Office Bar starting at 8:00 p.m. at which yours truly will be the quiz master. The much-reduced Hash team got roundly beaten last time out so needs all the support it can get! (Whack, whack, whack!)

Finally: last chance to register your support for doing something for the 1900th run in 3 weeks' time. Visit the Online Scum or the Facebook Messenger page to indicate your interest. The response so far has been to put it mildly, underwhelming, but like the man said, it's not over by a long shot (is it?)

19 again? Whither 1900?

Get well soon, Fu Fu!

Saturday's SH3 run was notable for all the wrong reasons, with attendance slumping for the second time this year to 19. But even that number fell further not long after the start of the run as Fu Fu suffered a hopefully mild infarction, forcing the Sex Sprinter-Super Pig clan to depart hastily to take the ailing canine to doggie hospital. The last report was that she was recuperating but won't be taking part in any more runs. The end of an era indeed.

Following the medical drama, hare Ruu Man Kap was so flustered that he forced the abandonment of the short run and called back the  remaining 5 long runners from where they had just broken the first F, only to then admit that he was confused and had to send them back whence they had come. After that things settled down somewhat and the 7k run was subjected to faint praise  by the pack.

Yesterday's HH3 run proved to be of a different mettle altogether, with Sex Printer and Sex Blackman delivering both the short and long runners to a point somewhere near the Korakot Restaurant on the New Hatyai Road and then sending them off on rather different routes to a point slightly West of the big sala behind the CP factory. There were mild complaints from the short runners that their 4k excursion was a bit too short, but surprisingly little complaint from the long run pack who climbed the hill from the western side in a downpour then followed the ridge and reached the top of the hill just as the sun was going down. They then miraculously made it down the steep side of the hill in the gloom without misadventure before reaching the beer truck and thus completing the full 8k in the dark. The on on was at Buk Toy's place where we will be entertained for the HH3 new year party in a couple of months.

Which brings us round to thinking about what we are going to do for the SH3 1900th run in a little under 4 week's time. There were questions asked at HH3 about what is happening as there is a chance that some of our regular vernacular contingent (i.e the Sex Sprinter-Super pig clan) may be otherwise engaged, although they have said that they will postpone their plans if  we do go ahead with some kind of celebration of the 1900th run. The problem is, however, that given our recent farang turnout particularly at last weekend's birthday party, there must be some doubt as to whether a party is really viable.

So following discussions with the GM on Saturday, this is a request to all readers of this blog and also the facebook messenger page to indicate whether they are up for a party on 25th November or not. You can reply either by a comment to this post or just by a message on the blog. Once we have an idea of numbers then we can think about what is feasible, bearing in mind that we are not short of funds and some kind of overnight event is not out of the question.

Over to you, guys.

HH3 today

This afternoon's HH3 run is an A-B run and the B site is at Goldstar, Buk Toy's yard on the Old Hatyai Road. From Songkhla go about 12k to the Ko Mi traffic lights and do a U turn. Come back 500m and Goldstar is on the left. Transport to the A site will be provided so don't be late!

This week's run is being set by Ru Man Kap, alias Robocop, who it has to be said has set some pretty good runs recently at HH3 . His chosen (as in he was told to set there!) venue is the hill formerly known as the virgin with three tits, though the old dear has sadly lost most of her middle mammary at the hands of the diggers.
Details are:
Songkhla Hash House Harriers' run #1896, Saturday, October 28, 2017, 4:30 p.m.
Hare: Ruu Man Kap
Misdirections: From the Kao Seng intersection take the old Yala road for 16k and turn right before Wat Khun Thong for 1k then turn right into the track leading to the quarry for about 300m or as far as you can get without bogging down and walk to the run site which is at 7.042492°N 100.646125° E. From Hatyai, get to the big tree by going East (yes, Stick Insect, EAST!) from the Tha Kham crossroads for about 6k then go straight ahead past the big tree in the direction of Khun Thong for a further 2.5k and turn left into the quarry track.

No news of the HH3 run as yet so those details will follow here when posted.

The wrong side of the road

If you're going to set a run on the new Yala road then  geography suggests that the Eastern side is  favorite. But faced with the steps behind the Chinese temple followed by a brambly climb up the hill, the hare opted instead to visit the western side of the road, not for the first time this year. The result was a flat 7k run (8.2k with all the F's) which managed 6 road crossings whilst  avoiding having to actually run along the hardtop at all if one discounts the proto-highway section after the beer stop. Meanwhile the short run were faced with a less adventurous 3.6k trip around the back of Ban Hoi Kan, followed by the loop to the beer stop, which was cunningly hidden from view to discourage the short cutting tendency. But, despite this special treatment, the, how shall we say, non-male section decided that this was not enough and created a medium run of more than 5k by taking the long run trail out, then heading back to the runsite along the short run detour in the reverse direction, arriving back just in time to obviate the need for the hare to go and look for them.

With a number of people away, the party that followed was short-lived and somewhat over catered-for and we'll have to have another go today at HH3 at polishing off the food and the generously donated beer,  which didn't get finished before the restaurant beer kicked in. By the time the band got fully functional, the HH3 contingent had already departed and when the bill was called for at about 9:00 p.m. the beer allowance had scarcely been dented.

Thanks to GM, All Black and Stick Insect for organising the venue, which it has to be said did us proud, and to HH3 and Throbbin' Hood/Just in not yet for the gift of beer. Sadly however it must be noted that we have yet again failed to significantly deplete the Hash's fairly abundant resources and will just have to try harder next month at the 1900th run.

Saturday's birthday run has now been confirmed at Coffee Chill, which for those of you who don't know, is on the New Yala road right opposite the Chinese temple (Kuan Im). There will be long and short runs, followed by the circle outside the restaurant, then we will all move to the top floor of the restaurant where there will be food and beer provided plus a band who can probably be bribed to provide backing for karaoke...or wasn't I meant to say that? All this for a measly 100 Baht for named runners and active new runners registering before the end of the circle, with first timers and anyone joining after the circle (note the subtle underlining!) paying 200 Baht (all kids 50 Baht).

Details are:
Songkhla Hash House Harriers' run #1895, Saturday October 21st, 2017, 4:30 p.m.
Hares: Egghead and Harram
Misdirections: From Songkhla take the New Yala Road from the Ko Yo intersection (well, actually, turn left opposite Bangkok Bank before getting to the intersection, just as the traffic is directed into the outside lane by 7-11, then after about 400m at a T junction turn right for 100m, then left onto the new Yala road). Go 5k (or 4.5 k if you have turned before the intersection) and cross the carriage way and park on the new section of road just beyond (south of) the restaurant at 7.092279°N 100.598784°E.

HH3 on Sunday? Sadly no one seems to have yet recovered sufficiently from last weekend's awesome outstation run to own up to setting it, but no doubt when they do, details will emerge and will be notified through the usual channels on a need-to-know basis!

Stop press:
Thank you to Hatyai Hash for generously (as in they are providing 2 cases of beer) sponsoring a beer stop which will appear as if by magic on both the long and short runs. HH3's runsite on Sunday has also now been announced  From Tha Kham go south for 1k and turn left; or, from Wat Keow Kloy go 1k north and turn right. Follow the road for about 500m to the run site on the right. The hare is Robocop.

Another Pichit Run

Mr Garmin recorded 8.4km for the long run, but that included the 3 check-backs and some looong false trails, as SI was quick to point out. And even though we never ventured more than about 60m above the first 360, the lowest point on the run, we nevertheless managed to attain a total ascent of 230m overall. The first 2 check-backs were the highest points on the run, at about 110m ASL. The short run covered 4.0km without all the checkbacks & false trails, but included the hills and the shoe wash. Did anyone try to shortcut through the swamp from the first ‘F’?

I was accused, by my fellow hare no less, of getting soft and setting pussy runs, so while I’m away I’ll have to work on getting some runs ready that will even be suitable for that Weasel Beaver on his next visit.

1894

SH3 run 1894, Saturday 7th October 2017, 4:30 p.m.
Hares: Yardstick and All Black.
Misdirection: From Songkhla, take the Old Hatyai Road for 4.7km past the Ko Yo intersection, turn left and go 10.6km (i.e. 2.8km past Wat Khao Kloi and about 350m before Wat Noen Phichit). Turn left at the hash sign and staying right go 3.1km to the runsite (700m beyond the end of the bitumen). From Hatyai get to the top of Poonakan Rd.and head for Noen Pichet then follow the directions above.

The GM's of course.....

For All Black’s 30^th birthday on the 30^th September we thought of setting a 30km run, but due to the limited space on the hill we decide to set an easy 3km run instead, to take pity on what we knew would be a severely hung over birthday girl.

What the hell we thought, we’re not a sensitive caring hash, and after all she is our whip carrying GM, so it was a 4.8km short run and a 7.2km long run that we ended up with. The short run had a total ascent of 172m and an overall descent of 264m; while the long run had 262m of ascent and 368m descent.
Thanks to our HH3 friends we had a reasonable turnout for the run, although due to the rather late return to the runsite, the HH3 contingent had to leave before the circle. Most of the remaining runners adjourned to Tung Jaeng soon after the circle to continue festivities; eating and drinking (Brandy) compliments of All Black and a case of big Leo’s compliments of Egghead. But it was left up to the birthday lady to continue celebrations in town late into the night, and another hangover? for the Sunday run.