Should Auld Lang Syne...

For the last run of 2016 we will be returning to one of those run sites from which everybody knows every trail...except that we haven't been there for the thick end of a year, so auld lang syne (whatever that is) may have been forgot. The hares however will not have been forgot; Details are:
Songkhla Hash House Harriers' run #1854, Saturday 31st December 2016, 3:00 p.m. (Wha? Yep, 3:00 p.m.)
Hares: Egghead, Harram, Ma Mick and Thing on a String
Misdirections: From the Ko Yo intersection take the new Yala Road for 800m and turn left. Go 800m to the National Library and turn right up the hill to the Home of Faith then continue up behind it for a further 1.2k to the run site on the right (7.117893 N 100.600058).

The early start is to facilitate whatever comes later which at time of writing seems likely to be a bar crawl around Songkhla ending up at midnight, together at... well the Hot Bread Shop which has been our host this year would seem like a nice idea.

Sunday's HH3 run is being set by Robocop and details are awaited...watch this space.

50 Christmas dinners and a run to go.

The scene at the beer stop before the hordes arrived.

The hordes

More hordes

Meanwhile back at the run site, Thani gets into the food early

The Egg Towers fantasy factory yesterday upheld its fine tradition of culinary sentimentality by serving Christmas dinner to the somewhat bemused vernacular contingent at HH3, who had anyway produced their own local feast, but then managed to eat most of the Christmas fare all the same, taking the remains of  the Christmas pud with them when they left. Meanwhile the Farangs tucked into the grub and polished off the vino thoughtfully provided by Inchdick. Sex Teacher and SOTM Wannabee, with the result that the consumption of beer was somewhat lower than usual, and much of the beer disappeared when Sex Printer, Robocop Tsunami et al left sometime after eight, leaving the Farangs and Scud to polish off the slab of Nouveau Leo thoughtfully donated by Star Soccer.

Before all that of course, there had been a run, which chief cook Kai Jeow had somehow found time to set between roasting the chickens and glazing the carrots. The 6,4k long run featured time-saving "checks" to avoid all that messy business of setting F's, and they were successful in keeping the pack together at least until the beer stop. Meanwhile, the short run joined by Lady of the Lamp took a short cut between the 5th check and the beer stop, reducing the run to 5.4k and the front walkers were there marginally before the long amblers as Saturday's rather more demanding run took its toll. From thereon in Sex Teacher took on the role of front runner managing to get home ahead of both LotL and SOTMII, who seemed to be ailing more than most.

Thanks to everybody who contributed to another great Christmas run, particularly to the HH3 chefettes, Sexy, Sex Si and Donkey and to Smoked Ham for the soup and bread. Let's do it again.... next year!

Songkhla in Hatyai, Hatyai in Songkhla

Our festive season runs are swapping home turf this weekend with the Christmas Eve SH3 run being down Poonakan way and the Sunday, Christmas Day HH3 run being at Egg Towers. Both runs are 'normal' runs (whatever that entails!) which means that the beer trucks will be in operation and selling beer at both runs and all contributions of food to eat after the runs are welcome although both sets of hosts will be providing something a little special. But as a special dispensation if  anyone thinks that they will want to carry on-on after the beer truck runs out, then extra beer is always welcome and bearing in mind that the hosts' food contribution on Sunday will be Christmas dinner, British style  contributions of mince pies and mulled wine would not go amiss and there will be a BBQ available for anyone one who wants to add to the meat pile although Cherie the goat and the cats are strictly off the menu!
The SH3 details are:
Songkhla Hash House Harriers' run #1853, Saturday December 24th 2016, 4:30 p.m.
Hares: Sex Sprinter and family
Misdirections: From the Ko Yo intersection take the old Hatyai road for 4.7k and turn left for 8k then turn right at Wat Keow Kloy for 8k. Turn left into Soi 10 and go about 200m to the runsite in Superpig's auxiliary house on the left. From Hatyai take Poonakan for 3k from the Kanjanawanit road intersection and turn right into Soi 10.
Sunday's HH3 run is at Egg Towers. From the traffic lights at Kuan Hin on the OHR (Ko Yo intersection, 4k, Ko Hong intersection, 13k) turn left or right respectively and go 5.2 k (bearing right with the road at 4k not straight ahead) and turn left thru the temple arch at Wat Borogam. Go ahead 200m then turn right and go 200m keeping the temple wall on the left, then turn left at the T junction for 100m and turn right to the parking area. Park on solid ground i.e. the road or the newly filled area as there is a lot of water around!

Pussies on high

So, armed only witb a GPS loaded with some speculative tracks from the Yardo database and presumably a large quantity of fried chicken, six (count them: Budokhan, Moo Sahb, Sexy Cop, Damage, Sexy Chef and Eeyore) hares  set off with hope in their hearts and chicken in their bellies and produced this masterpiece. Yes masterpiece, because allowing for the lack of a short run, forcing the short runners to tackle the whole 7.5k, this was a great run appreciated by all, particularly for the challenging up trail and the down trail that had Inchdick and Knobshot first to the well placed beer stop (sponsored by Sex Printer) and again at the end of the run, closely followed by Four Wheel and Donkey, proving that the short run are actually a fair match for the long run. The top of the hill was about 270m with the total ascent about 350m. FROP was home in about 1 hour 30 minutes with the stragglers from the short run who shall be nameles (ok, All Black and McMucky?) returning on the back of the beer truck in not far off 2 hours 30 mins. A real circle followed resulting in the declarations of two Xmas party runs on Saturday (Hare::Sex Sprinter) in Poonakan Soi 10 and on Christmas Day itself chez ouef (Hares: Egghead and the Borogam junior mafia)
It don't get much better!

The nine signs run

...which was what it took to direct people to the run site rather than what was needed to get them round the 7.5/6/5 k (with/without F's) long run and the 3.2k short run. The long run got up to 260 meters for whoever found the 5th F or 250m for lesser mortals. The total ascent was in the region of 300m with the actual climb accounting for two thirds of that. The short run meanwhile reached 100m just before meeting the long run and their total ascent was about the same.
The beer truck tragically failed to appear in time for most of the short runners who must have been motoring...or maybe BTDIII, whose 650th run this was, was otherwise engaged. Meanwhile Stick Insect's undercarriage failed and he was forced back to the run site to join late arriving elements of the short run in time to reach the beer stop which was by then in place The arrival of the depleted long run pack occurred somewhat later by which time BTDIII had resumed his disturbed sleep in the front seat of the Egg-truck.
Back at the run site, dinner was served courtesy of Only a Yolk and Crackwurst just before the rain arrived to render the circle ...wet. But it was successfully completed with the aid of several umbrellas most of which were provided by Chao Ngor. Kan Kai, Hot Buns and Curry in a Hurry were welcomed back and CiaH was given his delayed 5-run shirt; Yardstick got his 550 run shirt and BTDIII woke up for long enough to acknowledge his 650th although not gracing the ice with his bum. The hare was awarded faint praise which was probably just about what the run deserved.
On on to better things and the pussy run on the morrow.

Aaaw! So cute!

So, this piece of kitch serves to announce that this is an Egg and Pussies weekend. Saturday's SH3 run is likely to be an intimate affair, i.e. a lot of people are either away or have departed for Trumpland! But the hare (ahem!) is promising an appropriately modest run which will not cause unneccesary pain or spoil the rest of your weekend.
Details are:
Songkhla Hash House Harriers run #1852, Saturday 17th December 2016, 4:30 p.m.
Hares: Egghead, Harram, Ma Mick and Thing on a String.
Misdirections: From the Kao Seng intersection take the old Yala road for 16k and turn right just before Wat Khun Thong for 3.5k, then turn left just after the big tree and go 150 meters. Bear right (yes, right this week!) following signs through the village for about 800m then turn left at the T junction onto the concrete road heading for the hill. After 200m take the third turning on the right just before the chicken farm and follow the dirt track for 1k to the run site. Park considerately as there is not a lot of off road parking. Coordinates are: 7.025486N, 100.619056E or thereabouts. From Hatyai get to Tha Kham and go east for 6k then turn right just before the big tree and follow the directions above.
Sundays Pussy thing is being set by Moo Sahb, Budokan, Damage, Sexy Chef, Eeyore, Uncle Tom Cobbley and all, and the run site is the big sala at Hing Kliang: From Songkhla take the old Hatyai road to the 4.6k turning and go left for 6k (to Tha Kham) then turn left (east) for 1.5k, then right for 500m. From Hatyai, get to Tha Kham then ditto. Coordinates are precisely, 7.034488E, 100.589985N.

A run of three halves

Yes, three halves, as in it should have been about two thirds as long!
Even with Stick Insect's almost short cut to beyond the beer stop cut out, this monster was ten and a half kilometers and precious little chance of a short cut once the first beer stop was reached by fair means. By some miracle none of the long runners got lost, with many opting for a walk down Poonakan from somewhere after the alleged second beer stop which many did not even find and was anyway short of any actual beer! Last home were Toy Boy and Man U who manfully stuck to the paper but arrived long after dark.
The short run(5.5k)ners were less fortunate as the later to be named Roti (a.k.a. Ha Roy Rupee) and 'er with the yappy dogs (Toa Ngork?) became temporarily displaced and had to be rescued by Sex Teacher and Luk Long, driving Inch Dick's pick up, who then also got lost on the way home and had to be talked back to the run site via a gruesome road accident.
No, this was not a run for the faint hearted! Hares: Sex Si, Sex of the Man and Sex Tour X; be warned they are dangerous!

Sunday's HH3 Run

This is Lady of the Lamp's representation anyway, which seems to be a pretty accurate depiction of the actual paper trail. I'm really glad Palm Job & I decided to just run down the road.

The Pee Wee & Olive Oyl Farewell Run

And of course farewell to Soi Boy. Is there anyone I have forgotten, …oh yea, Kii Leum.

The run was a short-cutters paradise, with many opportunities for the 13 long runners to be the “winner” to the beer stop at least. But surprisingly not a single successful shortcut was observed. The out and the in trails were never more than about 300m apart, and in several places just 50m or less. Beavershot where were you when we didn’t need you?

The long run had a total length of just over 6.0km, NOT including the 7 false trails and 1 checkback, and boy what a checkback that was. I recall one hare mumbling repeatably “this is ‘orrible, this is just ‘orrible”. The total upwardness was about 320m to a maximum elevation of 220m. The short run meanwhile, had a total ascent of 100m over a distance of 3.5km, and also included the beerstop.

Speaking of beerstops, many thanks to Pee Wee and Olive Oyl for the most generous contribution of beer, which surely compensated for the nasty run. Best of luck with your new job in the Toy factory Pee Wee, and hope you all fare well in the land of Trumpism.

I would like to say a special thank you to Ork’s Dork for the many late late nights she has put into at work, to make shreddy for our hash runs. And to R2D2 for the countless & thankless hours of sitting on the beer truck, selling tokens to the increasingly inebriated hashers. All this to provide the revenue to pay for the ‘free’ water, soda & ice we all enjoy. A big thanks to Sex Sprinter and his helpers, especially Buk Toy, who have stepped in on many occasions to set runs when it seemed we were going to be without hares. And not forgetting our perennial hare, Egghead, who always seems to be setting SH3, FMH3 or HH3 runs, as well as fiddling (with) the books on a weekly basis. And of course all those other hashers who stepped up to set a run this year. Thanks, now can we do another relay run.



This week's hares are....

SH3's run details for this week are:
Songkhla Hash House Harriers' run #1851, Saturday, December 10, 2016, 4:30 p.m.
Hares: Yardstick and Kii Leum
Misdirections, from the Kao Seng intersection take the old Yala road for 16k and turn right before Wat Khun Thong for 3.5k. Turn left just after the big tree and go 150m then bear left and follow the road through the village for 700m to the run site on the old football pitch. from Hatyai, get to Tha Kham and head East for 6k towards the big tree then turn right just before the tree itself and go 150m etc.

Sunday's HH3 run is yet to be declared so details will be added later.

More depravity from Gin Lane

Let this be a warning to you the next time you feel like reaching for that gin bottle!

Gin Lane

An artist's impression of the scene late on Saturday evening at the PMH3 gin-soaked orgy. (with apologies to Mr. Hogarth who probably never ran a hash in his life!)

Report? As in police report? Oh, you mean write up!
Well, we all got there - and that was in doubt as the rain fell on Thursday night and well into Friday morning. But by 6'ish Malaysian time the magnificent thirteen were all at the hotel in Penang and ready to party. Which we did with considerable aplomb until the gin arrived and then for some reason it all went (as can be seen from the picture above) "tits up".
This, by the way, occurred during the run itself, which featured gin and tonic stops, and since we apparently didn't finish off the mother's ruin during the run, we were served pitchers of the stuff at the party which followed, most of which was consumed by our harriettes, with the result that some of them had to be escorted back to the hotel a little earlier than expected.
Those who remained, thereafter became the center of some rather over-enthusiastic male attention, at what was a predominantly batang affair and the departure of the remaining SH3 contingent was accompanied by some testosterone-fired gentlemen who had taken umbrage at the fact that the young ladies who had been the center of all the attention, were actually not completely free of husbands etc. A mild rumpus followed during which Yardo narrowly avoided being mugged and All Black's new shoes 'became missing'.
A shame, because up until then it had been a lot of fun and PMH3 made us very welcome at an excellent event featuring some great food, loads of beer and .... oh yes, gin and tonic.

Penang piss-up

No time for a report (maybe one of you others can post one?) but here's a quick pic of last night's post-run dinner. Suffice to say there was a lot more drinking than running.

Not Penang

Not going to Penang? In fact most people aren't and there are only a small number of regular runners who are going, so SH3's run will only be mildly depleted. So please do go along and support the hare who has stepped in at short notice to make sure that the loyal stay-at-homes get a good run. The beer truck will be running as usual so anyone needing transport should get to the Hot Bread Shop by 3:00 p.m. or for a pick up en route give R2D2 or Stick Insect a call (see side panel for contact details).

Details are:
Songkhla Hash House Harriers' run #1850, Saturday, December 3, 2016, 4:30 p.m.
Hare: Sex Sprinter
Misdirections: From Songkhla take the old Yala road for 16k and turn right at Wat Khun Thong then go for about 4.5k (1k past the big tree) and look for a hash sign on the left either just before or opposite the Sai Kao Resort. Follow the track etc. for as far as necessary to get to the run site.
From Hatyai, get to Tha Kham and go East for about 4k then look for a hash sign on the right either opposite or just after the Sai Kao Resort. Follow the track etc.

Sunday's HH3 run is being set by Black Sexman and Sex Si, and it is expected that all the renegades who are going to Penang will be back in time for the run. The run site is off Poonakan not far from Tung Ngai School. From Songkhla get to Wat Keow Kloy and go 6k then turn right and follow the road for about 600m, past the school then take the track straight ahead as the road bends right and follow it for 300m to the run site. From Hatyai the turning off Poonakan is on the left, about 5k from the intersection with Kanjanawanich Rd.