Better late than never!

September's full moon run will take place on Tuesday; a few days after the astronomical full moon, but since we've already had a full moon run in August, a few day's delay seems justified!
Details are:
Hatyai Full Moon Hash House Harriers' run #121, Tuesday September 1st, 7:00 p.m.'ish.
Hare: Kai Jeow.
Misdirections: from the Ko Yo intersection take the old Hatyai road for 4k and turn left for 5.2k then turn left opposite the Borogam temple arch and go about 500 meters to the run site near the big sala. Usual stuff applies: bring a hand/head light if you intend to run  and some food if you feel like it. There should be some beer on sale but if you feel like bringing your own and sharing it with your mates, feel free!

The Origami Run

After being forced into a corner of the countryside by the previous hare, there was no option but to fold this week’s run in half and then fold it in half again. As has probably been surmised by now, the long run was a figure of 8 run, consisting of basically two 4.0km runs, the first loop, in purple, being the short run.

The long run overall length was 8.2kms, which included the 9 x checks, 3 x check-backs & 9 x false trails, with a total ascent of 247m, reaching a maximum height of just 64m from the lowest point, which was at the beer stop. The short run (in purple) was 3.9kms, with a total ascent of just 98m.

To the victors go the beers

OK, OK already. Here's a masterful Photoshop job of Friday night's victorious quiz team. Maybe its time to come up with a highbrow Latin motto for the hash. Something like Athletica cum intellectus. Or how about Mens debilis in copore decrepitus.

...include:

• Historical images of the SH3 quiz night team's 3-in-a-row triumph (come on Beaver, just how long does it take to Photoshop yourself into the picture?)
• Yardstick's track from yesterday's "interesting" run. (when he can spare the time from the latest fruits of his recruiting drive!)
• Details of Tuesday's up-coming Full Moon H3 run (Oops! that's me.)

HH3 - Forever changes!

Ahh, forgive an old hippie wannabee his indulgence!


Anyway, tomorrow's HH3 runsite has been slightly changed. It is still accessible from the directions in the post below but instead of stopping at the sala, continue on along the road for about 1.1k and the run site will be on the left.

But actually it is more easily accessed as follows:
From the Ban Tha Kham crossroads, head South towards Wat Keow Kloy but turn left after about 1.2k and follow the road for 650m to the run site on the right. If coming from Poonakan Road, head North from Wat Keow Kloy for about 800m and turn right, then go 650m etc.

Not for sale!

With the march of commercialisation encroaching on even your favorite hash blog, it is pleasant to record that this week's run will cost you nothing (well, actually it will cost you 60 Baht but with all the zeros which have been appearing in recent posts, 60 Baht really is a snip!) no one will be trying to sell you anything (except beer, and that's a noble cause) and unless Stick Insect decides to turn his hand to the culinary arts, there will be no spam!

Details are:
Songkhla Hash House Harriers' run #1785, Saturday August 29th, 2015, 4:30 p.m.
Hares (at time of writing): Yardstick and R2D2
Misdirections:  From the Kao Seng intersection, take the old Yala road for 16k and turn right before Wat Khun Thong for 2k, then turn left and drive 1.2k along the dirt road to the runsite. From Hatyai get to the the Ban Tha Kam crossroads and head East for about 6.5k to the  big tree  at Ban Sai Kao then go straight ahead for 1.4k and turn right for 1.2k along the dirt road to the runsite.

Sunday's (August 30th, 4:15ish) HH3 run will be set by Sex Sprinter from Sala Hin Kiang which is best approached from the Ban Tha Kam crossroads (old Hatyai road 4.7k, left 6k) from which head East (left if you are coming from Songkhla) for 1.5k then turn right for about 500 meters to the sala opposite the even bigger tree.

Before all that there is a quiz night on Friday (28th August), prior to which there will be a meeting of the Hash Promotion Committee at the Buzz Stop when our strategy for taking over the world will be aired over Guinness and Tortillas. All are welcome to come along and make suggestions to Beavershot, who will be leading our campaign to restore the hash to greatness.  The quiz night will then occur at 8:00 p.m. at the Office Bar when Patrick will be the quiz master. Rumour has it that the Hash team are on something of a roll with 2 successive victories under their belts so do come along and help them to crash and burn which shouldn't be too difficult after all the Guinness and Tortillas!

Next stop: Phnom Penh

The 69 Bar, St. 136, Phnom Penh. No conventional go-gos, bikinis etc. are allowed in Cambodia, but that doesn't stop the girls from jumping up on the counter and shaking their booties for the price of a $2 drink. Photo by J. "Boogie Nights" Popham.

While at least several of our Angkor Wat running team seemed to approve of Mikey's Night Bar, the only even semi-sleazy place we managed to find in Siem Reap, nightlife in Phnom Penh was of course on a whole different level. Truly one of Asia's great bar towns. And if you want an excuse to go there, you have next year's Phnom Penh International Half Marathon. Inexplicably though, it's run in May, a month in Cambodia that makes Bangkok feel cool and comfortable by comparison.

Beer-drinking with a purpose

As Yardstick has proposed a new membership drive, and as there has already been a vague movement toward a Thursday Friday [see comments] evening meetup in Songhkla, could I suggest combining the two and holding a small meeting? We can toss around ideas for an ad, which I then volunteer to work on, and maybe come up with some other plans, like ways to get our newer hashers to encourage their own friends to give us a try. Time and place up to all of you . . . but maybe something like Buzzstop at 7 pm.?

Classic Robocop

An excellent HH3 run from Robocop yesterday, featuring checks that turned the entire pack around nearly half a dozen times. Even Sex Sprinter went off the rails at several points, not that it stopped him from coming in at the front. Length was just short of 7km with total ascent of a little over 200m. Which sounds easy but somehow it wasn't. It took 1:17 for the frontrunners and not much more for almost everyone else.

Intrahashional Rescue to the....rescue!

Long run about 6k with a total ascent of 164m and a maximum height of 135m according to Google Earth (Mrs. Garmin said 125, the old skinflint!) No time available as an extended sojourn at the beer stop (360 7) rendered the lasts section of the run a beer-assisted walk for most of the pack. But it was long enough that the absence back at the run site of Raccoon Ass, Pee Wee and Olive Oyle  was cause for the mounting of a rescue operation involving initially a sweep of the central section of the short run followed by an inspired drive into the hills where the first call of "Are you?" miraculously elicited the correct response of  "On f***ing paper!"  Having coaxed them off the trail the GM conveyed them back to the runsite where the post-run analysis was that it was the front-runners fault as they had not broken the wicked 4th F which had also delayed Buk Toy, Only a Yolk and Innuendo. A veil shall be drawn over why they also didn't break it, but in fairness they were so far behind the rest of the pack at that stage that the were probably entitled to believe that there was no one behind them. However, the lesson to be learned from this occurrence is: BREAK THE CHECKS GUYS! Particularly if the hare is not sweeping the run.

The short run was a generous 4.4k and the arrival of most of it at the beer stop followed the arrival of most of the long run. There were some protests about the necessity of actually finishing the run on foot rather than on the back of a pick up, but special dispensation was granted to R2D2 and Itchy Bitchy who rode in comfort with the egg-doggies, lest Haram decided to repeat an earlier pursuit and assumed sacrifice of a local chicken!

Sanam futbol!

This week's SH3 run will be from Pawong's answer to the Al Wakrah Stadium (left), the football pitch behind Ban Sai Kao.

Details are:
Songkhla Hash House Harriers' run #1784, Saturday August 22nd, 4:30 p.m.
Hares: Egghead and canine cronies
Misdirections: From the Kao Seng intersection take the old Yala road for 16k and turn right before Wat Khun Thong, then go 3.5k and turn left just after the big tree. After about 150m go straight ahead and follow the road for a further 600m through the village to the run site on the OLD football pitch (i.e the grass pitch, NOT the new concrete one)  on the left. Hatyovians should get to the crossroads at Ban Tha Kam then head East for about 6.5k to Sai Kao village then turn right just before the big tree etc.

No news of the HH3 run on Sunday yet, but don't forget that if you are itching to have a go at emulating or out-doing the Siam Reapers, the Songkhla marathon takes place on Sunday morning. Registration for all the 4 distances (42k, 21k, 10.5k and 4k) being run will be on Saturday (only) at the other stadium in Songkhla opposite AUA.

Finally just a gentle reminder that there will be a joint run with Penang Men's H3 on 12th September and to try to get an idea of numbers we will be canvassing both hashes this weekend for support. Details of the likely cost of dinner and an optional T-shirt should be available by then. The venue will be Thung Jaeng and our guests are arranging some entertainment guaranteed to bring a lump to your pocket as well as bringing lots of beer.

R2D2 Uncovered

After years of suspecting that SH3 runner R2D2 was not quite human, the truth has been finally revealed. On his bi-millennium check-up at his local service center (Canadian spelling?) it was discovered there was a problem with his operating system and a replacement primary CPU and sensory unit (equivalent to the human head) was required. This was successfully completed at the centre for robotics regeneration (known locally in humanoid terms as Songklanagarind Hospital) when a new “head” was stapled onto the “body”, or power distribution and reprocessing cavity. However it was discovered an upgrade was required to the OS to prevent further degradation of the original superstructure, and new software will need to be downloaded over several  arduous weeks via WiFi, using radio-magnetic and radio-chemical infusion.
R2D2 has vowed that he hopes to exihibit his new and improved humanoid, or is that android, or possibly cyborg form at this weeks coming hash event.

A really hairy run

Here's the track from last Saturday's relay hare run courtesy of Pee Wee. 6.7k or 7.4k depending on your choice of technology with a maximum height of 185 meters by kind permission of Aftershock whose contribution to the run was significant! Thanks also to Palm Job, Sex Sprinter and Yardstick for their hapeths..

Last word on the AEHM

In the absence (hopefully temporary) of a full track from yesterday's relay hare run, since somehow the GPS got turned off during the final transfer between Yardstick and Aftershock, here is the track from last Sunday's half marathon in Siam Reap showing Angkor Wat, lower right and Angkor Thom to its left.
On on to 2016!

Aha! Yer ale urn!

Err.. neural hay? Or, if you prefer, her unreal ray or even, a "rule her" yarn. Got it yet?

No? Ok, this week's SH3 run will be a relay hare run because we haven't had one for a while and because the Siam Reapers are still trying to get their bodies back into some sort of working order before resuming normal service. So this week's misdirections read:

Songkhla Hash House Harriers' run #1783 Saturday August 15th 2015, First hare drawn 4:15 for a 4:20 start; pack departs 4:30 p.m.
Misdirections: From the Kao Seng intersection take the old Yala road for 11.8k and turn right for about 2k then go straight ahead at the crossroads for 1.7k and turn right onto the road leading to Kao Ron for 1k to the run site on the right.*

No word yet of an HH3 run on Sunday^^, but habit suggests that there will be one and no doubt details will emerge when the spirit moves them to get their fingers out of wherever it is that they have inserted them. Details will follow in an appropriate manner, but in case you are not party to it, keep checking here! 

*The Hatyai cogniscenti will no doubt have worked out that going East at the Ban Tha Kham crossroads towards Sai Kao for 5.2k and turning left, then following the road for 600m to a Y junction and bearing left for 1k will also bring you to the run site.
^^ See comment added below

Run #1782, (year of the Dog?)

Do you man here? Disinterred from the ailing spare GPS the green seems to represent what was intended to be the long run with the two red sections being the cut-offs for the short run. Can't understand how anyone could get confused on that one!!!!!

From our K9 correspondent:

Its official, when man ceases to exist on planet Earth it will not be rats or cockroaches that take over the mantle because it will be DOGS. Yes, run #1782 had 12 dogs present and 10 humans.

On what turned out to be an outstanding run (varied opinions), Hares Softcock and R2D2 arrived at the run site ahead of time and departed quickly to set paper (initial plan was to set a live hare walk, but that was skittled at 10 a.m. Saturday morning when long runners were advised to be attending), so paper was laid and at 4:30 p.m. the circle was called and Temporary Relief gave out the clear and precise instructions (as the hares were still out scouting and laying at the same time) and this is where the ?? started. 

The first F caused confusion as it had been destroyed by a motorcycle, the instruction that when they came to the concrete with the short run to the right and the long run to the left was confused by the concrete at the WAT, so all the people turned of the paper and that was that. WiWi and Terry ran into the hares on the in trail, Inuendo went round twice (but not on paper), so we thought we should rename him Inufronto, Crackwurst got lost with Rock n roll and Hip Hop, War Zone was also displaced and was rescued by the hare. So, only the hares followed paper all the way and everyone else got lost. Great circle and fun had by all.

On On.

The gang of 13

Is everybody happy? Well..., strangely, since everybody did what they set out to do, this post run picture from the SH3 outing to Siam Reap, hides the fact that none of the half-marathoners were particularly happy with their individual performances and at least three of them will probably be doing it all again in 2 weeks time in Songkhla to try to get it right.  But for the record, Pee Wee lead us home in 2 hours and 3 minutes, Throbbin' Hood was next in 2:23, Stick Insect and Beavershot, depending on which version of reality you choose to read, were home in 2:28 and 2:29 respectively; Egghead limped home in 2:47 and Yardstick sneaked in with a couple of minutes to spare before the 3 hour curfew. Also deserving of an honourable mention was Only a Yolk who posted a very respectable 1:18 for the 10.5k run, with Hand  Job, Erector and Olive Oyle all home within 2 hours, and last but not least, Peppered Pussy, Meals on Wheels and Swings and Roundabouts all completed the 3.5k 'family' run.
There are already mumblings about repeating the trip next year as everyone agreed that athletic pique aside, the run was a lot of fun, SR is a great town to visit and anyone who hasn't seen Angkor Wat probably should do so before it becomes completely overrun with Chinese tourists!

Where are they now?

How's your hash history?

On the left we have Brutus, but who is that handsome young man on the right?

A serious lapse of fashion sense from the man in the pink shirt - seems like the dowsing is amply justified; but who is dispensing the water?

At least 3 ex GM's in this picture. Name them!

Snapper looking dazed and confused but who are the harriets (no points for this one!)

Thanks to Snapper Don for the pictures.

Gordon unlumped!

Here is Gordon this morning sitting up and well on the way to recovery after his surgery. He is likely to be in hospital until at least Friday and would welcome visitors. He is in Prince of Songkla Hospital on the 5th floor in the ENT area, room 532.

Once more...

...step Softcock and R2D2 who will boldly go where no man hath gone before this month and set a run behind Ban Dan School.
Details are:
Songkhla Hash House Harriers run # 1782, Saturday August 8th 2015, 4:30 p.m.
Hares: Softcock and R2D2
Misdirections: From the Kao Seng intersection take the old Yala road for 8k; do a U turn then turn left after 100 meters up the side of Ban Dan School and follow the road for about 3k to the runsite at the base of the hill.
Please try to support the hares, who are stepping in at short notice to set a run in the absence of a number of runners in Siam Reap, and to allow them to cater for the likely attendees they would appreciate a call or maybe an SMS advising your interest: Softcock: 089 8706973, R2D2: 081 9908482.

HH3's run on Sunday will be set by Robocop and will be from behind the CP factory: From the Ko Yo intersection take the old Hatyai road for 6.5k and turn right after the CP factory (which probably involves a U turn just after the turning) then follow the road for about 1k to the run site on the right behind the community center.

Flat fare

Whatever way you look at Hatyai H3's run last Sunday, it was pretty flat. With a maximum height of 55m from a starting point of 27m, the runners ascended only 44m round the whole 8.1k (or 7.6k if you're Beavershot) which probably accounts for the fact that despite 15 O's and F's the first runners were home in just under an hour. The 4.4k short run was set live by the hare who found it pretty difficult to stay ahead of the SRFRB's and once the long run paper was rejoined, they disappeared leaving Egghead and Big Jelly Cock to bring up the rear in about 50 minutes.
A party ensued which strangely no one has been able to tell me anything about, and judging from the volume of aluminium cleared up on Monday that is not surprising. Thanks to all who made Yolk's Pokes' birthday such a memorable evening; now what are we going to do next weekend?

The silence of the cows

The run started at the bottom, just off Route 41. Beer stop at the blue triangle, then more or less along the dotted line (I didn't turn my watch on) for the Full Moon Run. Total distance 4.5km + about 2.5km.

Horror in orange

Garlic won't work against this one. Try a vegetable peeler!

Just when you thought tonight's Abattoir Adventure couldn't get any creepier, our local fortune teller has made a terrifying prediction: at the stroke of midnight (or if that's too late for you geezers, maybe around 8 pm.), the mild-mannered Songkhla GM will transmogrify into a hideous giant carrot-person, and then take vengeance upon all non-vegetarians for their horrid meat-eating ways. You have been warned!