The Big Wet

Well, that was different. Nonstop serious rain from the moment the run started till just about the time the last runners got in . . . but who would have guessed that the last runners would be Sex Sprinter, Bak Toy, Palm Job, and Tsunami? These fine fellows were the only ones willing to try to track down the elusive paper squares your hare inadvisedly chose to use today. It took them a couple hours, right till the very edge of total darkness, despite which they pronounced the run "Sanuk maak". Everyone else did the short run or some variation on it, and even that wasn't easy. Most of the trails were rivers and most of the paper had long since disappeared downstream.

Redacted GPS track of the run.

We present no technical details of the run, as the hare was basically told, "Not good enough, do it again." So next week he will, from the same site but using better paper. Maybe I shouldn't but I take this as a compliment -- I mean, if it were really that bad, would you ask me to do it again? Or are you just really hard up for hares? Anyhow, on-on, 4:30 pm., Saturday, 7 September!

I miss those dogs!

The Lost Weekend run

Tidings from this week's hare:

The desperate life of a chronic alcoholic is followed through a four day drinking bout . . . no hang on, that's Ray Milland in the Billy Wilder movie. The blurb for this Saturday reads more like: Beavershot gets plastered on Quiz Night and then, desperately hungover, attempts to set a run using the dubious GPS track from the one (!) recce he did this week. Will he lose his way? Will the whole hash? Whatever happens, you'll want to drink heavily!

Details are:

Songkhla Hash House Harriers' run #1681, 4:30 pm., Saturday, 31 August 2013

Hare: Beavershot

Misdirections: From the Ko Yo Intersection take the old Hatyai road for 4.6 k and turn left for 10.6k then turn right and go 1.1k to the runsite.   

Sunday's HH3 map is:

It looks like a location in the vicinity of Ban Ta Jin: From the Ko Yo intersection take the new Hatyai road for about 8k and turn left before the hill then look for a sign after about 1k on the right. The hares are Robocop and Sex Racing but don't let that put you off!

Finally. as hinted at in Beaver's comments above, there is a quiz nite at the office bar on Friday 30th August at 8:00 p.m. at which yours truly will be acting as quizmaster. All proceeds in favour of the blind kids, so do come along and take part.

The Guardian sez: Yes, a sport for old farts!

Fauja Singh, who two years ago in Toronto became the oldest person ever to complete a full marathon. It took him over eight hours, but then again -- he was 100.

OK, we're preaching to the choir here, but this just in from the Guardian:

Running is one of the few sports at which it is possible, albeit with a lot of hard work and a bundle of talent, to progress to elite status despite only taking it up in your 30s. One of the best examples is the great Jack Foster, the Liverpool-born New Zealander and self-styled "ancient marathoner", who pulled on a pair of trainers for the first time at the age of 32 and by age 40 found himself running 2:11 for the marathon, picking up a silver medal for his efforts at the Christchurch Commonwealth Games in 1974.

At a slightly lower level, Welshman Martin Rees this year became the proud holder of the age 60 World Best times for the half marathon (71:30) and 10km (32:54), after a glorious couple of decades during which he has run incredible times over a full range of distances from 5k (14:20) to the marathon (2:23). He only took up the sport in his late 30s and soon got the running bug.

Read the whole thing here.

It's all relative

So the question came up after Sunday's run: has Einstein's theory of general relativity been proven? In other words, is it really still just a theory?

Unfortunately Brainiac still isn't answering his phone -- could he still be upset about that Wikipedia crack? -- and so in my own poor way I had to do the research myself. The conclusion may surprise you.

Einstein himself proposed three "tests" of his theory: 1) the perihelion procession of Mercury's orbit, 2) the deflection of light by the sun, and 3) the gravitational redshift of light. All three have by now been demonstrated beyond doubt, as well as many more newer tests. You can read all about it here.

But in fact we were asking the wrong question. Checking the Physics Forum (a very good U.S.-based forum backed by Scientific American magazine), I found this explanation by one of the boffins:

You don't seem to understand what a theory is. No explanation of natural phenomenon can ever progress beyond the status of "theory". The predictions of theories, if verified by experiments can be facts. Time dilates in a gravitational field: FACT. Time dilates in a gravitational field because mass bends a 4-dimensional space time continuum: THEORY. See the difference? The second statement can never be anything but a theory. Cause and effect is impossible to verify experimentally (because its a relationship). It can only be assumed based on repeated experiment, not proven. When people say "Relativity is just a theory, not a fact" or "Evolution is just a theory, not a fact", its painfully obvious they don't understand how science works. Theory is as good as it gets. You do not progress from theory to law. A law is just an assumed fact. The Law of Conservation of Mass: We assume that mass is conserved. We cannot prove it. But based on experience, it seems to be a reasonable ASSUMPTION. Theories, do not become laws. Laws are assumptions. Theories do not become facts. Facts are observations.

Law: Assumption
Fact: Observation
Theory: Explanation

None of the three can be "promoted" into being one of the others, they are seperate things altogether. Calling something a theory has nothing to do with its merit or accuracy. The idea of the lumiferous ether is still a theory, but is not given much credence. General Relativity is a theory, and is widely believed to be a close approximation to the truth. 

. . . so now we know.

What we do best.

1680: 7.5k, maximum height 168m. Great run as everyone who did it agreed. 'Nuff said. Short run? The GPS reveals that there was a pretty good run in there but somewhere along the line the hares lost their nerve, cut out the hill and about 2k of gorgeous running to end up with a miserly 1.9k which never got much above 100m. But it didn't matter, the walking wounded sniffed out the lost bits of the track, did them backwards for the most part and then added another 2 or 3k on for good luck, so it was ok in the end.

Sunday's HH3 run by contrast was a little under 4.4k and although it got up to about 295m, there was a hare-directed medium run which cut the top 30 meters or so off. Great circle and party followed which ended sometime after the beer ran out.

Enough! The dawning of the age of non-Aquarious.

Thank you Beaver for those few kind words.

Yes, enough is enough. This was voiced informally at the outset of the current GM-ship, and there was a period of acceptable levels of water throwing. But the situation has got out of hand and sadly requires a dictat to restore some kind of normalcy.

Therefore, henceforth, water whilst not totally banned, should only be thrown in recepticles which do not exceed 200ml (see above), i.e. the size of the plastic cups which are provided every week by the beer bitch, and the throwing of water should be restricted to those of female gender and/or those not exceeding the age of 12, i.e. those of whom the older and more responsible among us (who the f*** are they?) feel some degree of ability to control in situations where even this minimum level of aquatic behaviour is deemed inappropriate.

As Beaver also suggests, new runners, returning runners and people receiving T shirts or other long service awards should not have water thrown over them and whilst sinners deseve most of what is coming to them (in units of 200ml), the dousing of hares should be conducted reverently, as a tribute rather than a punishment.

And yes, maybe even icing is something we should think about phasing out. For the time being let us maintain the option so that those who have grown used to the weekly cold bum can continue to indulge in this cruel and unusual punishment. But henceforth, 2 plastic stools (below) will be provided on which the more tender-arsed among us can take their punishment reward if they so choose.

At the end of the day this is supposed to be fun, and although many of us have grown used to being soaked and frozen, our arcane rituals have undoubtedly contributed to our low numbers, and we cannot afford to ignore this fact and risk driving away people who enjoy or would potentialy enjoy all other aspects of what we do.
GM

Notes from the Shadow On Sec

First of all, thanks to hares Perky and Innuendo, who set an excellent and unexpectedly ambitious run today. We reckon that most of us ran about 9km, mostly at a pretty exhausting pace too, though we can't blame the hares for that. I'm prejudiced, because this happens to be just about my favorite area in all Songkhla/Hatyai, but they used it well. Better yet, Short Screw didn't come in first for a change, not that we keep track or anything.

Anyhow I'm not sure if I'm still On Sec, but after watching the recent antics of the British government, I've decided to appoint myself as Shadow On Sec in any case to discuss two important points that came up after today's run.

Of Ice and Men

Just when we'd decided to ease off on the water throwing, it came back in force today. Perky and Mucky Pup in particular seemed seriously unimpressed, especially since they'd both expressed their dislike of the whole icing thing. Yes, I know, the kids like throwing water and anybody who can't take a joke etc. etc. but the simple fact is that we've lost runners because of this, and at this point we really can't afford to lose any more.

Stick Insect had a good suggestion: limit the water throwing to serious  sinners who we know won't mind too much. God knows, I've come to dislike it myself, but if you've really got the goods on me, then yes, fair enough. But for new runners, returnees, shirt recipients, hares (well, most hares), and anyone else who objects to it, we really ought to stop this, and I mean as of next week. And I think the GM feels even more strongly about this than I do.

Mid-week hijinks

On a more positive note, Gan Yao asked why not organize some kind of SH3/HH3 social event once a month, two weeks opposite the Full Moon Run. We pointed out that we already have been doing a nice little dining/drinking evening on random Thursdays, alternating between Songkhla and Hatyai. But yes, how about trying to formalize it to once a month,  two weeks after FMH3? For once, I'd really appreciate a comment or two here . . . please?

More Hash cuisine

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Egghead, the secret romantic

Egghead, the hash's leading photographer of sunsets, seems to be expanding his artistic range. While your usual hash flash was on the ice on Sunday (unfairly, as always), Egg borrowed his camera and, perhaps in homage, snapped this near-beavershot . . . of his own wife! Who says romance is dead?