We never forget you have a choice.

Lots to do this weekend, in fact so much that you can't possibly do it all particularly since there are two runs on Saturday about 200k apart.

For anyone who is not aware, there is a Hatyai Hash outstation run this weekend but despite this, there WILL be an SH3 run on Saturday as there are a number of people who can't make the outstation run, and at least one of our exiles, Smeghead will be making a welcome return to join us. As befits the reduced numbers there will be a single run which will be a light-hearted beer hunt set from Egg Towers, and in deference to Smeggers convalescent condition will be, a) flat, and b) less than 6k with a cut-out at 4k for anyone feeling the strain at that point. 

Details are:

Songkhla Hash House Harriers run #1716, Saturday, May 3, 2014, 4:30 p.m.

Hares: Egghead and Harram

Misdirections: From the Ko Yo intersection take the old Hatyai road for 4.7k and turn left for 5.2k then right through the temple arch at Borogam. Go forward 200m and turn right keeping the temple wall on your left for 300m then turn left . The parking area is 60m ahead up the track on the right.   

The HH3 outstation run is at at Krue Ton Thae in Trang province, at roughly the same location that last year's hill walk started from. The (Thai) flyer appears above and there is a map to the resort below. Most people who are going will be taking part in a car rally which will start at 8:30 a.m. at a location a little way up the main Phattalung road. If you are intending to go you probably already have the details but in case you change your mind and decide to join the car rally, contact Sex Sprinter or Super Pig who can give you more information.

Remarkably there will also be an HH3 run on Sunday, set by the Sex people from the site just before the elephant camp on the left hand side of the old Hatyai road  (11k'ish: 4:30 p.m.). 

Before all that there will be a quiz nite on Friday, 2nd May (8:00 p.m.) at the Office Bar. The quiz master is big Alex and the Hash team are already honing their excuses in anticipation of tough competition from the cream of Songkhla's intellectual elite. All proceeds in aid of the blind school.

1715: The run that grew like Topsy

Recce'd and laid in one fell swoop, 1715 suffered or benefitted, depending upon one's viewpoint from the "oooh that looks like a nice trail" syndrome, with the result that the planned excursion of about 6k got stretched to over 8k - nearer 10 if you were unlucky enough to find all the F's.  But it still only took 1hr 5mins for Sex Sprinter and After Shock, and no more than 1-15 for lesser mortals and was almost all running, with only a modest total ascent  of 160m mostly accounted for by the climb up to 145m at the top of the single hill. The short run was a mere 3.3k but was judged sufficient by the distinguished pack that completed it.

And the good news is...

... from the Ko Yo intersection take the old Hatyai road for 10k and turn right at or just before the Nam Noi traffic lights then go about 1k to the market and turn right and follow the track for about 500m to the runsite.

Farewell Kii Leum

This Saturday Kii Leum will lay his last run for us for a while before departing for colder climes in search of fortune if not fame.  Sadly a number of our downunderers will not be around to help us to give him a rousing farewell as there is some arcane ceremony or other going on in Kanchanaburee which they feel impelled by their cultural heritage to attend. So there is a general appeal for anyone not involved in ANZAC day commemoration to come and run wth us on Saturday, lest "Albert" should feel unloved and decide that with his sudden accession to the ranks of the super rich, he is best off staying in Holland.

Map below for the spatially imaginative, but for the rest of us the details are:

Songkhla Hash House Harriers run #1715, Saturday 26th April, 2014, 4:30 p.m.

Hares: Kii Leum and Egghead

Misdirections: From the Ko Yo intersection take the old Hatyai road for 4.7k and turn left for 8k then right for 1.2k (at Wat Keow Kloy into Poonakan) then left for 300m up the track to the run site on the left.

No news of the HH3 run on Sunday yet but you'll hear it first when there is. Also in the 'no' category is a quiz nite this week as again, in partial deference to the ANZAC absentees, it as been postponed until next Friday, 2nd May when the quizmaster will be big Alex, who sets a mean quiz. So gird your loins and prepare to fight next week to restore the honor of the Hash team who suffered a humiliating defeat last time round at the hands of the evil teachers.

The GM's stature: the awful truth!

As the saying goes "Behind every good man is a great woman"; or in SH3's case, beneath every mediocre GM there is .... words fail me!

GM up a tree

In a desperate attempt to gain some much needed stature, GM and hare Egghead climbed up a tree at the runsite today. Fortunately he didn't break his neck on the way down.

No doubt you will see the technical details here soon, but it was an excellent run on what's left of the Three-Titted Virgin. Among our visitors was an ex-GM from the infamous Hamersley Hash. Or maybe they're not infamous, but one of their t-shirts certainly is.

1714: The virgin subdued but not neccesarily conquered

6 k'ish without the F's, 7.5 with. Max. elevation (at the 5th 360 which no one but Softcock seems to have visited), 121m; total ascent 165m (Really? It seemed like more.) Beavershot was home in about 1h 2 mins. The short run was about 4.5k. Not everyone set off together or went round the whole way. Those who did mostly kept together, those who didn't variously came back from the wrong direction, alone and/or unhappy. Ah well, as Fleetwood Mac didn't say: You can't please everybody, so it's back to the drawing board for 1715!

The rape of the three-breasted virgin

Satuday's SH3 run, whilst not necessarily boasting new trails can certainly offer views of parts of the three-breasted virgin that you have never seen before. Why? Because previously they have been under 10 meters of earth! Yes, they are turning one of our favorite hills into a quarry, and if you don't get to run it this weekend, the chances are it will be incorporated into the old Yala road before too long.
Details are:
Songkhla Hash House Harriers run #1714, Saturday April 19, 2014, 4:30 p.m.
Hares: Egg family
Misdirections: From the Kao Saeng intersection, take the old Yala road for 16k and turn right immediately before Wat Khun Thong for 1.4k then right for 200m to the runsite on the left. (From Hatyai take the Nam Noi - Tha Kham road for about 12k to the big tree at Sai Kao and go straight ahead towards Wat Khun Thong for 2k then turn left for 200m).
Sunday's HH3 runsite is about 6k down Poonakan from Wat Keow Kloy on the left. The hares are probably the sex people although that had not been announced at time of going to press. Map and any more gory details will follow when available.

True believers

Scenes above from Friday night's full moon run (top) and Sunday afternoon's "Ultimate Hangover" run reveal a rather unlikely group (circled) of althogether 19 'completely insane' hashers who made it to and mostly did all 4 runs this weekend, including the Tsunami axis (not shown above in either photo: His Fault and Phrik Kii Nu) Softie and Temp, Buktoy and (not shown) Chao Ngor, Ting Tong, the Egg family (Peppered Pussy not shown) and 4 runners from Batu Pahat and Labis H3.
Friday's Full Moon run (below) was well attended and appreciated, almost restoring Stick Insect's tattered reputation as a hare. 6.3k with a maximum height of 109m, it was completed at a blistering pace by the front runners in about an hour with Sticky sweeping up those who missed the short run turn off and walked the long run.

Saturday's SH3 run Below, green-red-green) was a little shorter but reached a height of 175m with a total ascent of 250m, most of which seemed to happen all at once. Generally well appreciated, it took the front runners about 55 mins to complete the long run with the 3.2k short run taking somewhat less even after the pack had spent some time disinterring the route after the hare had failed to join up the two bits of the out trail. Those completing the long run included 7 KL runners who walked the long run and were finally guided home by Kii Leum and Star Sex after almost two and a half hours on the trail but happily still on paper.

Sunday's Songkran town walk took the full brunt of the Malaysian invasian, with about 25 KL Hashers variously from the Full Moon H3, the Harriets, Royal Lake Club H3 and Fuckarwees Sans Frontieres H3 as well as a group of 11 hashers from Batu Pahat and Labis H3 in Johor. The walk started almost promptly for a change and took in most of Wachira as well as a long stretch of the beach before returning to Coffee in Love via the dark Side and Sisuda Road. With 5 beer stops along the way, most but not quite all the beer was consumed and the party was still in full swing when the fanatics left at about 2:30 for the final run of the weekend at Hatayai H3.
Set by Mr. and Mrs Buk Toy, and located at the dam at Phru Toh the pack was comforted by the hares that the run was not too long. It stretched away South for a while and then commenced a long and probably quite high ascent up the flank of Ko Hong before a fairly direct descent almost exactly back to the runsite. The mood after the run could best be described as subdued as the pace began to tell and at the end of the circle most people seemed to be minded to head for bed although the Malaysian contingent showed true spirit by announcing that they were going shopping.
But a wonderful weekend of Hashing which must have cemented Songkhla's reputation as a Hash worth visiting. Lots of new and old friends and a reminder, if it were needed, of what a great event Songkran is, with tremendous goodwill on display both from locals and guests and from young and old alike.

SH3 poster boy, Kii Leum shows how it's done.

Keeping faith with G.O.D.

This is the weekend when the faithful in Songkhla bear witness to their committment to G.O.D.: growing old disgracefully. When we forget for the time being that we are geezers with dodgy knees, mutilated feet or incipient hernias, abandon all remnants of personal dignity, and go out into the streets of Songkhla  to declare our undying determination to exercise our inalienable right to behave like the children that at heart we still are.
To ease the burden of our testament, there are 4 (count them:          1, 2, 3, 4!) runs this weekend, starting tomorrow with the Full Moon H3 run and winding up, for the truly committed, with HH3's regular Sunday run, attendance at and participation in which will mark out the completely insane from the marginally eccentric. Details for those with a strong constitution and a good memory are:

Hatyai Full Moon Hash House Harriers run #109, Friday April 11th 2014, 7:00 p.m.
Hare: Lady of the Lamp
Misdirections: From the Ko Yo intersection take the old Hatyai road for about 4k and turn left for about 6.5k, then right and follow the track for 300m to the runsite in the rubber.
Usual stuff applies: Bring a hand/headlight if you intend to run, and contributions of food to share after the run are always welcome. Beer: 120 Baht for 3 cans from the big blue eskie or drop some share-beer into the red one if you feel like it.

Songkhla Hash House Harriers, run #1712, Saturday April 12th 2014, 4:30 p.m.
Hares: Egghead and Kii Leum
Misdirections: From the Kao Saeng intersection take the old Yala road for 8k and turn right before Ban Dan School then go 1.5k to the runsite on the left.
And:
Songkhla Hash Horse Harriers, run #1713 "The 15th Songkran town run", 13th April 2014, 11:00 a.m.
Hares: R2D2 and Egghead
Misdirections: From the Bai Meang Restaurant, head West for 200m and turn left for 300m to the runsite on the right in Coffee in Love.

For the two SH3 runs, a joint registration fee of 150 Baht for active SH3 and HH3 runners (kids 50 Baht or 100 Baht with T shirt), 450 Baht for guests (200 Baht for kids) will apply. The rego will include beer 'n soft drinks on the Sunday run (but not in the bar afterwards), lunch  at the bar after the run, and  a t-shirt on a first-come-first-served basis.

And as if that weren't enough,
Hatyai Hash House Harriers, Sunday, 13th April 2014, 4:15'ish p.m.
Hare: Toy Boy
Misdirections: From the Ko Yo intersection take the old Hatyai road for 10k and turn left for 3.5k then look for a sign (Aah see it brother! I see it!)  on the right and follow its pointing to the runsite.

Finally, let it just be mentioned that our devotions this weekend will be attended by a number of hashers from chapters in Malaysia including a group from Batu Pahat H3 as well as some current or ex KL full moonies and the prosaically named Fuckarwees sans Frontieres H3.

On On to salvdamnation!

Eastwards and westwards

Just a few of the Hatyai and Songkhla luminaries who turned out for yesterday's excellent run by Mr. & Mrs. Sex Star. If Saturday's run was the best in memory east of the Old Yala Road, this might well have been the best ever west of Route 41.

A run to remember - for all the right reasons

Didn't make HH3 yesterday? Well they don't come much better than yesterday's run. Sadly un-GPS'ed but 1hr 9mins. for the super-fit young things, with mere mortals making it in 1hr15 upwards. The hares estimated it at about 10k, although 7 - 8k seems more realistic.
But what a great run, taking in the full majesty of the hills behind the run site including a long snaking trail along the final valley reaching almost to the Chinese cemetery on the Sadao road, before turning back towards the Chana road for a long ridge run followed by three short descents and ascents back to the run site. A great trail marred only slightly by a dearth of checks which allowed the field to become a bit attenuated. The miscreants pictured above were unable to appreciated the significance of a big F on the final ascent which meant that they rejoined the out trail for the final few hundred meters. The short run was by all accounts, challenging particularly so for Full Moon and a couple of the other young ladies who fell into the clutches of Vaseline who took them on a short cut which meant they only just made it back before dark.
The On On! was chez Pi Lek where curry and pizza supplemented the usual fare provided by mein host. There was also too much beer, with the ice box still looking suspiciously replete at the end of the evening. Now I wonder why that was.

Wanna run? You got it!

By careful combination of the bits of today's run discerning hashers could opt for runs of 3, 4, 5 or just shy of 6.5k. In the event no one took the shortest option, and although Only a Yolk and Gan Yao were suspected of not running the full Shilling, most people opted for the long run, which took the first runners 58 minutes to complete and involved 2 climbs to 69 meters (wow!) and a total ascent of 189 meters. General approval followed which just goes to show that keeping expectations limited brings the greatest accolades. Ma Mick was in the doghouse for attempted goat and cow-icide as well as narrowly avoiding going under the wheels of a tractor towards the end of the run. He is unlikely to make today's run! Otherwise it's on on! to HH3 and a blow out at Buk Toy's following.

Go East, young man.

With the dry spell continuing into April, pieces of land not generally fit to run on have become attractive prospects  and this weekend's destination is to be found to the East of the old Yala road, in a piece of country euphemistically described as a stinking swamp, best avoided after even the lightest of showers. But following last week's impassioned pleas, the hare has managed to incorporate some modest vertical sections along with the flat bits which - and you know this is coming - will include some never before (or at best rarely) run trails along with the rest of the stuff that you may recall running in your worst nightmares.
Details are:
Songkhla Hash House Harriers run #1711, Saturday April 5th, 2014, 4:30 p.m.
Hares: Egghead and Haram
Misdirections: From the Kao Saeng intersection, take the old Yala road for 14k and turn left for 2.5k then right for 250m to the run site on the right, (although parking on the concrete road may be advisable for anyone with a low slung vehicle, as the area is a bit bumpy!)

Sunday's HH3 run seems likely to be down the Chana road  in the quarry on the South side opposite the Chotiwat  factory. Map below. Directions are: From the Ko Yo intersection take the old Hatyai road for 22k and turn left then go about 2k and look for a sign to do a U turn.

Before all that, there is a quiz nite on Friday at the Office Bar at 8:00 p.m. Quiz master is yours truly. All proceeds in aid of some good cause or other. Do come along and support the hash team who need all the help they can get!

Finally, for those claiming to be members of the SH3 committee (you know who you are!) or anyone else with an interest in organising what is going to happen over the Songkran weekend, it would seem sensible to have a brief meeting on Friday at the Office Bar to "finalise details" (i.e. decide what we are going to do and more to the point, who is going to do it). The good news is that we have hares for all 3 (yes, 3 ) of the runs but the rest is up in the air. 7:00 p.m.? RSVP?