When things go way wrong

Not your usual recce. For a start, it's 22km long. (And please don't use this to guide you on Saturday's run or you too will end up at the Big Tree, if you're lucky.)

Out on recce yesterday I mistakenly went down the back side of the main hill where we'll be running on Saturday. It's not very nice back there -- lots of impassible country, little rubber and no people, and only a few trails. The only one I could find took me farther and farther from the runsite, till I came out at a village I thought must be near Route 43. So when I hit a decent dirt road (upper right above), I turned right on it, thinking it would take me back parallel to 43.

That's when I happened upon the only person I'd seen all day, a young guy jogging. I asked him if the road came out near Wat Noen Phijit. He didn't even seem to know the name, which wasn't a good sign. And he said the road didn't go anywhere but just disappeared into the hills.

I was tempted to try it anyway but it was getting late and for once I took the advice. I turned around, heading even further away from the site. Only when I came out, after 10km of walking, did I realize that I was all the way up at the Big Tree. Heading any further down that road into the setting sun would have been a bad choice.

Suddenly the guy reappears, this time on a motorbike insisting he take me back to my bike. And so he did, a good 12km -- 24km roundtrip for him -- and then refused even the gas money I offered. Oh, and Mr. Trump, he was Muslim. Just like the guy who saved me from the wasps.

We all know it but it's worth noting again now and then: in addition to some of the best hashing country anywhere, we also have some of the most friendly, helpful locals we could ever hope for. And it's just as well, because after all these years it seems I'm still doing moronic things out there. And I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one.

Several good reasons to remember the 30th December

Ok, so Perky didn't like the Karaoke, but apart from that, last New Year's Eve Eve was a memorable evening if for no other reason than it was announced that Beaver and Handjob had tied the noose, err... knot (strange Freudian slip there, ed).

So the question is, what dramatic developments will be revealed at this year's event. Will Stick Insect finally accept the inevitable and announce his nuptuals? If so with whom? Will Egghead finally come out of the closet as a boring old fart on state pension? No surprise there, then!

Only one way to find out - be there! Same place same time same date: Buk Toy's yard (Gold Star), 6:00 p.m., 30th December (a Wednesday this year as it 'appens). Fancy dress is optional and freestyle, contributions of food would probably be well received and the alcohol advice is to bring a little of what you fancy!

Christmas Full Moon

First things first; here's the run - possibly the most recce'd run in hash history as this was, more or less, the hares bread-and-butter training run for most of the first 7 months of this year  - 5.5k, pretty much flat and very predictable so that the pack were mostly back within 45 minutes apart from Buk Toy and Gan Yao who are beginning to show signs that they may not actually exist permanently in our part of the multiverse since they have both suffered a number of recent unexplained absences from the trail.
The earlier than expected arrival of the pack caused some consternation in the kitchen as the catering team struggled to coax enough heat out of the oven to get stuff cooked and Temp fought a largely unavailing battle with Softcock who was in charge of carving but seemed more interested in just eating the whole turkey!

But eventually the food was served and rather more quickly than it had arrived, it was consumed - down to the last leg bone which Ma Mick was seen consuming. All that remained for the late arrivals were a few vegetables and some Christmas pudding.

Traditional Christmas dinner - NOT!

Then it was on on to the serious business of the evening as the mountain of cases of beer just had to be tackled. Jim and most of the Vernacular wing departed at about 10 as some of them were seriously intending to do another run at midnight in Hatyai, but the Saffers and the "old guys" stuck it out, manfully doing their duty aided and abetted by Softcock's drinks cabinet just in case the beer wasn't hitting all the high notes.

By 2:00 p.m. the pressure was beginning to show and the  Saffers left on Kiiling's motorcycle followed shortly by Stick Insect and All Black, leaving just Yardo, Beaver and Egg to carry the flag. We shall draw a veil over the final fall of the curtain but Yardo couldn't have got to bed much before 4!

Palm Job feeling the pressure

Kiiling about to go for the jugular

The day after the night before

Sore head? Tired aching limbs?  Here's the answer!
Songkhla Hash House Harriers' run #1801, Saturday 26th December 2015, 4:30 p.m.
Hare: Sex Sprinter
Misdirections: From the Ko Yo intersection take the old Hatyai road for 8.5k and turn left for a little over 1k then turn left into Soi Soun Prek and follow the track to the runsite near the waterfall.
Hatyai H3 on Sunday is in Poonakan at the football field at Tungnai. Hares believed to be the same or similar to last week.
Now, where did I put that headache?

Christmas; Running: Buffet

Friday's Christmas Full Moon H3 run should occur roughly in that order with the missing ingredient being alcohol which not to put too fine a point on it, should be contributed in approximately equal proportions and varieties to that which you think it likely you will consume!

Food-wise, Softcock and Temp are sorting out the turkey and cranberry sauce, and the Egg family are already engaged in producing both a sumptuous range of seasonal veggies as well as the odd plum pudding, and there will even be a curry or two just in case you  aren't into traditional Christmas grub.  But further contributions are always welcome and the HH3 girls have already indicated that they will be adding to the pile. Booze-wise, we will be polishing off the remains of the beer and wine from last Saturday and as usual there have been pledges of cases of beer from our vernacular wing as well as the ever-present danger that Softcock's store of fine liqueurs and cognacs may not yet have been exhausted. But we are definitely going to need some more beer so don't come empty handed, as for once, Full Moon Special brew will NOT be on sale!

The run itself will be fairly modest and intended to do nothing more than work up an appetite without getting your feet wet. There will also be a short run if those of modest athletic appetites express the wish for one, which can either be done on the night or preferably by adding a comment to this post. And don't forget, if you do intend to run bring a hand/head light as the moon is unreliable at this time of year!

Details are:
Hatyai Full Moon Hash House Harriers run #124, Friday, 25th December 2015, 6:30 for 7:00 p.m.
Hare: Egghead
Misdirections:From the Ko Yo intersection take the old Hatyai road for 4k and turn left then go 5.2k (don't go straight ahead at 4k but follow the road as it bends round to the right) and turn right through the temple arch at Wat Borogam, then follow the road for 200m and turn right, keeping the temple wall on your left for about 300m. Turn left at the T junction and then after less than 100m turn right to the car parking area.

No news yet of the location of Saturday's SH3 run which will be set by Sex Sprinter who will no doubt reveal all on Friday evening - yet another good reason to come along and enjoy another running Christmas!

1800 thrambling

Saturday's 1800th run in all it's 5.5k glory - a bit more with all the falsies and the checkback but still quite short by long run standards. The short run in contrast starting only about 1.5k into the long run was quite long, but the head start of about 10 minutes was enough to get everybody to the beer stop pretty much together, except for the late-arriving Sperminator, who opted for the short short run and the errant Gan Yao who disappeared into another dimension,

Despite it's billing as the run that contained nothing new, the first section was terra incognita causing Sex Sprinter to have to ask directions from a passing local, Not that they did him any good, as, way-off paper, he went around the beer stop, discovering the in trail close to home, but then at least had the decency (or the thirst) to turn round and head backwards to the beer stop.

A raucous circle followed at which there was a special award for  Ru Man Kap in his capacity as GM of HH3 who have supported us unflaggingly this year, and Leigh was christened BarBIE - not sure how we're going to get that on a T-shirt! An equally raucous party ensued enervated by some large cans of 16% 'beer' donated as prizes by the returning Softcock who was also responsible for organising most of the games although the award for the best of the evening undoubtedly went to Temporary Relief for the traditional musical chairs which produced three winners as All Black managed to end up with Sex of the Man on her lap with BarBIE topping off the trio.

Late evening entertainment included In-u-endo attempting to mount his bike which showed every indication of not wanting to be mounted, and Yardstick dancing in the rubbish bin which also seemed to have developed female tendencies as it caused him to fall on his face in the mud, allegedly on 3 occasions. But full marks to Yardo for perseverance!

So it's On! On! to Christmas Day and the full moon 11th anniversary run of which more here anon; but gird your loins for 7:00 p.m. at the Eggylum!

Christmas comes early

A few shots from Saturday's Christmas-themed run at Thung Jaeng. On-on and ho-ho-ho!

Lucky sez: I'll wear mine if you'll wear yours.

Lucky look-alike Bozo (no relation
to Donald Trump) shows off this
week's suggested running accessory

This weekend' sees the  celebration of SH3's run #1800 and falling as it does in the week before Yuletide, the run will be Christmas themed with all runners being asked to wear a silly festive hat as well as any other items of Xmas kitch they fancy running in. There will probably also be a prize for the most appropriately Christmassy fancy dress during the evening which will follow.

The whole event takes place at Thung Jaeng and for a measly 100 Baht (50 Baht for kids, 200 Baht for previously unregistered guests) you'll get beer, food, karaoke and entertainment. There will also be a T shirt sponsored by the Egg family: active runners will get their usual size T shirt automatically and we are also donating some shirts to the staff at Thung Jaeng who have looked after us so well on too many occasions to recall, this past year. Returning runners and guests will have to take pot-luck, but everybody should get a T shirt eventually, even if they have to wait a couple of weeks for SS to print some more.

The run itself will be an A-B with 3 or 4 different length options to suit  everyone except Gan Yao who will no doubt make his own one up as he goes along! The whole thing will revolve around a beer stop sponsored by Pee Wee and Olive Oyle (who sadly won't be joining us as they are currently in the US making sure they get registered to vote for Bozo next year!). There is a slight clash with Jappong's funeral at 4:00 p.m., but anyone who can't make it to Thung Jaeng for the departure of the fleet of trucks to the A site at 4:30 p.m. will be picked up about 20 minutes later and taken to the start of one of the shorter run options, so everybody who wants to join in should be able to. 

Formal details are:
Songkhla Hash House Harriers' run #1800, Saturday December 19th 2015. Circle called at 4:20 p.m.. Transport to A site leaves sharp at 4:30 p.m. but any late arrivals will be picked up at 4:50 and taken to the start of one of the short runs.
Hares: Egghead, Only a Yolk, Peppered Pussy and Harram 
Misdirections: From The Kao Seng intersection take the old Yala road for 11k and turn right at the Ang Thong intersection into the new Yala road for 1.4k to the Tung Jaeng restaurant on the left (07 05 12.07 N 100 37 25.04 E). If you are coming from the Ko Yo intersection take the the new Yala road towards the Ang Thong intersection and take the final U turn (just before Ang Thong) and go back westwards for about 1.3k.

Hatyai H3's run on Sunday is at Thungnai opposite the school: misdirections are something like: From the Ko Yo intersection take the old Hatyai road for 4.6k and turn left for 8k then right (at Wat Keow Kloy into Poonakan) for about 5.8k then turn right and go about 600 meters to the run site on the left . The hare is Sex Si and probably Sex of the Man to name but two.

Jap Pong's funeral

 

Jap Pong's funeral will be at Wat Saket this Saturday at 4:00 p.m. She is currently lying in Sala 3 at Wat Saket and those of us who can are going to go along this evening (Tuesday) to pay our respects from about 6:30 p.m. 

Depending on how many people can make it this evening we will probably discuss the implications for Saturday's run as it probably wouldn't be impossible to delay the start by 30 minutes to allow those who would like to go to the funeral and to run to be accommodated. If you can't make it tonight but have a view on that one, your comments would be appreciated.

1799 - the run before the rest of them!

It's always nice to know where you've been, particularly as quite a lot of people  didn't seem to know where they were on Saturday, despite the fact that this is not exactly terra incognita! So full marks to the hares who recce'd and laid the run in relays. for confusing so many half minds.
The 5.8k trail, including all the falsies and the one check-back, which as Sticky points out was not found, did not unduly delay the pack who were home in about 40 minutes with some short runners taking a little longer. Modest praise ensued at a raucous circle which consisted mostly of advertisements for  the rest of the runs this year; of which more later...

Jap Pong

For those who haven't heard,Ad, known to hashers in Songkhla as Jap Pong, tragically took her own life yesterday. Details of her funeral etc. will be posted here when know.
RIP Ad

Coney explains the secret of his success

Conebrain, stuck in the perma-night of a Siberian winter has things on his mind he would like to get off his chest, like explaining why Erector currently looks like a member of a lady's darts team (he said it first Elle!). The following link will explain all:Better sex

The view from here

It's that time of year again when we contemplate the year almost finished and look ahead towards that which is still left to come. And as we  gaze towards the misty future, there laid out for our enjoyment we see...

Well, to begin with, on Saturday there is a run from Stick Insect aided and abetted by some or all of Pee Wee and Raccoon Ass. Details are:

Songkhla Hash House Harriers' run #1799, Saturday 12th December 2015, 4:30 p.m.
Hares from: Stick Insect Pee Wee and Raccoon Ass
Misdirections: From the Kao Seng intersection take the old Yala road for 8.8k and do a U-turn (immediately after the mosque). Go back 200m and turn left into the Soi at 7-11, then follow the road for 1.7k and turn right (or to be more precise, don't turn left) at Koh Teaw Layer Farm. Follow the road for 0.5k then turn right before the crematorium and park outside on the track (coordinates: 7.06.01.80 N, 100.37.09.04E)  From Hat Yai (or the outer reaches of Kao Roop Chang), turn right (or left if coming from KRP) at the Ko Yo Intersection into the new Yala road for 7.7k and turn left for 1.3k. Turn left (really left!) at Koh Teaw Layer Farm ...etc. 

Sunday's HH3 run will apparently again be set by Robocop, so expect no mercy! Details of where will be announced later to avoid shocking the weak-hearted.

Then, looking beyond this weekend, next Saturday (19th December) will be the SH3 1800th run which will be Xmas themed and celebrated in traditional style at Thung Jaeng with food, beer and games, and karaoke for the strong of stomach (or hard of hearing). Watch out for a special freebie and a run which is guaranteed to contain absolutely no new tracks and no previously un-run countryside! A modicum of fancy dress is strongly advised. 

Further into the future, the next full moon run will be held on Christmas Day (25th December) at Egg Towers and there will be traditional Christmas fare after the run with traditional full moon special brew liberally provided. There will also be the usual runs on Saturday and Sunday (26th and 27th December) as long as someone can be prevailed upon to set them after all that food and booze! 

Then finally before we slide gracefully into 2016, on 30th December there will be a New Year's party thrown by HH3 at Buk Toy's yard, details of which have only been announced in Thai so I have no idea what will be happening except that it will undoubtedly include everything listed above for the other events squared. There is also a T shirt available to mark the event, but times are hard (as old Scrooge would have said) and if you want one you will have to pay 200 Baht and pre-order it from Sex Sprinter before next weekend!

1798 - an artist's impression

More or less what the long run hares set, and exactly what the short run hare set. Horizontally a mere 5.2 k (2.9 for the short run) but vertically a total ascent of 235m to get to a maximum height of 241m, with the short run keeping their feet well and truly on the ground. So no points for subtlety nor for outwitting the short-cutting tendency who managed to cut between the 6th and 8th 360's by just ploughing down the hill, thus avoiding the nice gentle track that the hares had selected for them. Sex Sprinter was iced as the ring-leader with returnee, Short Screw, Palm Job and Stick Insect as more or less willing accomplices.
A democratic decision about the 1800th run followed, as did a predictable decision about the next full moon run which will fall on Christmas Day. More details later. However don't expect any surprises or innovation! But, Hell! we're a Hash!

Nice view!

Hatyai from ... well, you'll find out tomorrow - turn 180 degrees and there is Songkhla. Not too many places you can do that!
Details are:
Songkhla Hash House Harriers run# 1798, Saturday 5th December 2015, 4:30 p.m.
Hares: Egghead Only a Yolk and Swings & Roundabouts.
Misdirections: from the Ko Yo Intersection take the old Hatyai road for 6.5k and do a U turn then come back about 100m and turn left just before the CP Foods factory. Follow the road for 1.4k to a T junction (about 300 meters past the community center where HH3 have been wont to have their runsites) and turn left for 250m then turn left into the run site (N7.05.06.30. E100 32 30 76) on the left.

HH3 on Sunday is now scrutable: From the intersection at Wat Keow Kloy take Poonakan road West for 7.5k and turn left, then go 1.5k and turn right into the quarry. The runsite is up on the second layer! The hare is rumored to be Robocop, but we've heard that one before!

Also now known as the Royal Carrot Run 1797

No chicken was available at the foodfest after the run, nor were there any carrots as promised there would be by our GM. But lucky enough one of the hares was thoughtful enough to bring along carrot crackers from a royal project farm. The first sampler just happened to be our dedicated hater of these thin orange roots, Beavershot, who became quite partial to their taste. Does that mean he is now a fully converted carrot eater??
The long run overall length was 7.2kms, which included the 2 check-backs, 4 false trails, and 8 checks and the single beer stop. The total ascent was 280m, reaching a maximum height of 133m. The short run was just 2.4kms, with a total ascent of 36m.

The chicken run

Over the years we've attached hash signs to a whole lot of other signs, but this has to be a first: yesterday some enterprising fried chicken/sticky rice vendor taped his sign to ours. The poor fellow probably thought we'd be around longer than an afternoon. Or else he was simply trying to get our business before the run, which makes me sorry I didn't stop and buy some of his food. Anyhow it's a great area for running and now we know we won't go hungry there.

Wedding quickies

Three quick ones from last Sunday's HH3 town run/wedding. Why does it always end in Goonie with his tongue out? Click to engorge.

Close to home

After a couple of recent outings which seem to have taken forever to get to, Saturday's SH3 run is just a hop skip and jump down the old Yala road and just to make things easier, by Grand-Masterly fiat we are doing away with all that early-during-the-rainy season stuff and reverting to running at 4:30 p.m. to help those who find an earlier start difficult to make.



So the details are:Songkhla Hash House Harriers' run #1797, Saturday, November 28th, 2015, 4:30 p.m.
Hares Yonestick and Cardbrain
Misdirections: From Songkhla, proceed to the NYR / OYR intersection, traffic lights at Ang Thong. From the traffic lights proceed south on the Old Yala Road (OYR) for 8.3kms then turn right just before the mosque on the right hand side. Proceed 3.5kms along the bitumen & concrete road through the village following hash signs or paper to the runsite on the concrete road.

If coming from Hatyai, proceed along the New Chana Road for 20.6kms from the overpass on the Sadao road, or 7.8kms from the Pitchit Road junction. Turn left at the SH3 sign for 1.8kms along the concrete road, to the runsite on the concrete road.

Sunday's HH3 run at Sala Hin Kliang is also pretty local to Songkhla: From the Ko Yo intersection take the Old Hatyai road for 4.7k and turn left for 6k then left for 1.5k then right for 500m to the run site on the left. The hare is Robocop.

Finally, don't forget that the final quiz night of 2016 will take place at the Office Bar on Friday 27th November at 8:00 p.m. with yours truly asking the questions. The Hash team is on a 5-time winning streak but that could all change if YOU come along and take part. All proceeds to the blind kids. 

If it's Tuesday, this must be.....

...Full moon 123! But it's difficult to be sure as after the 500th selfie (which this wasn't!) you kind of lose track. But here is 4-Wheel at her first HFMH3 run for almost 7 years not wielding that bloody stick thing but obviously having a great time while in the background the old fa... stalwarts put the world to rights.

Good run by the pussies though, given that the weather conditions were euphemistically describable as appalling. 4k'ish and mostly run in a torrential downpour overhead and 5cm of water underfoot, it was actually a bit of a relief to get onto the road at the end! But no one complained much as we all knew what to expect, except All Black for whom this was her first Full Moon run and who was guided round by hare, Moo Sahb running in flip-flops which were probably more practical than running shoes!
The turn out for the party that followed was just about as expected, falling 2 short of the 40 budgeted for, with the result that the food never quite ran out and the beer stocks were never in danger of being exhausted. The Karaoke was also as expected but the cronies were forced to dodge showers to avoid its worst excesses. Last to leave seemed likely to be Yardo and Coney who took 6 cans of Leo from the departing beer truck "just in case".
As was noted the hundred and twenty third run more or less coincided with the 11th anniversary of the first full moon run - actually held on 26th December 2004, although there seems to be no reason why we shouldn't get one more run in this year to mark the anniversary, as the 26th December is a Saturday. Any takers - we've still got some beer left!

Not difficult

Tomorrow night's Full Moon run  is number 123 and a good excuse to continue the present run of parties dating back a month or so and likely to continue at least util the New Year.
Details are:

Hatyai Full Moon Hash House Harriers run #123, Tuesday November 24th; registration: 6:00 p.m., run starts 6:30 p.m. sharp.
Hares: Moo Sahb and Martell
Misdirections: Go to Tung Jaeng! (OK: From The Kao Seng intersection take the old Yala road for 11k and turn right at the Ang Thong intersection into the new Yala road for 1.4k to the Tung Jaeng restaurant on the left. (If you are coming from the Ko Yo intersection take the the new Yala road towards the Ang Thong intersection and take the final U turn (just before Ang Thong) and go back westwards for about 1.3k).
Damage: Regular (3 or more runs in the last year) runners: 50 Baht. Named and previously registered runners who have not done 3 runs this year:100 Baht; completely new runners: 200 Baht. Kids 20 Baht.

And while we're on the theme of things which are not difficult, the last quiz night of the year falls on Friday 27th November at the Office Bar in Th. Sadao at 8:00 p.m. when Egghead will be the quiz master  leaving exposed the soft underbelly of the hash team who could do with some help if they are not to lose their currently 5-in-a-row record of victories. Come alng and support, challenge, participate and contribute to the pot which will thereafter be donated to the blind school.

1796: tough but fair.

The hares' GPS records it at 8.2k; Stick Insect who swore he faithfully followed the paper had it at 9.25k. Whatever; it was long for a relay run and the hare's time of 1 hr 46 mins. was probably a better estimate of the pack's time than the 1 hr 37 mins. claimed at the runsite after the run.

The short run was lead by OaY who cut off back down the road at the second check which was probably sensible  and the outing seemed to have been enjoyed by new and old runners alike.

By dint of some serious peer pressure we have hares for next week, but surprise, surprise Yardstick is in the team along with Conebrain. The message still doesn't seem to have got through: We cannot go on relying on the same 3 or 4 people to  set runs week after week. As a minimum, runners who turn out pretty much every week need to be setting runs every 8-10 weeks; it doesn't take a mathematician to work out that if most weeks we have 8-10 hounds, that is how often they must set the run.

But a good relay run today even if the middle bit didn't go exactly to plan. No one was complaining though and we will no doubt be doing this again before too long!

By popular demand Pt. II

Ok, Ok, so some people understand map coordinates better than my lilting prose! Saturday's run site pinpointed!

They say don't delay, we lay relay!

Cut the "popular demand" crap! Efforts at gentle and not so gentle persuasion, the publication of damning statistics and even an appeal to OaY's better nature (it exists; really!) have failed, so this Saturday's run will be a relay hare run, details of which are:

Songkhla Hash House Harriers' run # 1796, Saturday 21st November 2015, 4:00 for 4:10 (i.e. the first hare will depart at 4:00 p.m., the pack will follow at 4:10 p.m.
Misdirections: From the Kao Seng intersection take the old Yala road for 11.2k (about 1k past the Angtong intersection with the New Yala road) and turn right. Follow the road for 2.2k and go straight ahead at the crossroads then go a further 900m to the run site on the left. (From Hatyai, get the the Tha Kham crossroads and take the road East towards Sai Kao, but turn left after 5.2k on the road up to Kao Ron. After 600m take the right fork at the Y junction and follow the road for a further 900m to the run site on the right.)

Sunday's HH3 run will be from the Green World Palace Hotel in Songkhla to allow everybody to attend the wedding celebrations of 4-Wheel/Hardware's son, Golf. Runners are asked to be outside the hotel at 3:00 p.m. with the intention of setting off to run at or before 3:30 p.m. After the run, there will be two gender discriminated rooms available at the hotel for showers and bodily titivation before the wedding dinner itself which begins at 6:00 p.m. Three line whip on this one guys!

Finally, advanced warning that the Hatyai Full Moon Hash 1-2-3 run will take place on Tuesday 24th November from the Tung Jaeng Restaurant. The run will start PROMPTLY (and we realise that this is a revolutionary concept!) At 6:30 p.m. so intended attendees are politely advised to arrive at the restaurant to register their presence at 6:00 p.m. After the run, which will probably be set by OaY and Y-chromosome challenged friends, there will be another TJ gastronomic event which will be sponsored by the Hash.  For regular (as in you have been to more than 3 runs his year) runners will pay a standard 50 Baht. Named or previously registered HFMH3 runners who have been a little lax in their attendance will be asked to cough up 100 Baht, while new runners will be prevailed upon to pay 200 Baht which is roughly what the hash is paying per pax to the restaurant. There will also be some free and sponsored beer and if it runs out the restaurant will be standing by for your orders!

Why doesn't the beer truck driver ever set a run? And other pointless questions.

Hot off the press, some provisional statistics for 2015 showing the top 40 or so runners by number of runs attended and all the people who have set runs so far this year.

Based on the total number of runs attended and the number of hares laying them, the figure to reach this year to date is 6.88% (i.e. the percentage of runs you have laid against the runs you have attended. 23 people have managed it; a lot haven't.

But don't forget, there are still 6 runs left this year for which we don't have hares, commencing with this coming weekend. So c'mon guys, you know who you are! Volunteer today and set a couple of runs before the year's out!

Thailand sets a world record

So while you were wasting your time and energy following Silly Pants' (admittedly pretty well laid) paper up and down the back side of Khao Khaw Hong yesterday, you could have been running the world's longest half marathon ever.

I guess maybe we better stick to the Angkor Wat Empire after all. At least they seem to get the distance right.

Surprisingly undisasterous

If you click on me you can make me big.

Instead of rain we got a day of beautiful cool sunny weather. And instead of going up into the hills as usual, the run curved around to the west, circumnavigating a really big wet spot, i.e. swamp. Shortcut that, Sex Sprinter! (In fact he did.) GM Egghead would want me to mention that he and his dogs were first in on paper. Then everyone else showed up within a couple minutes, all around the 1:15 mark. Stats: 7.8km long and 248m total ascent despite starting at 84m ASL and never getting above 128m.

Laff it up

Well the old Garmin conked out on yesterday's recce and there's no time for another try. So enjoy a few laughs today because there might not be many on Saturday!