Dam!

In case any encouragement were needed, here are a couple of shots of Saturday's idyllic run site taken by hare, Little Tool, and for those who missed the HH3 run at the same site a few months back, note that lovely concrete road which now stretches all the way back to the Nam Noi-Tha Kham road, so avoiding all that nasty pot-holey stuff that used to be involved in getting there.

Details are: Songkhla Hash House Harriers' run #1926, Saturday June 2, 2018.
Hares: Conebrain and Little Tool
Misdirections: From the Ko Yo intersection take the old Hatyai road for about 10k to the Nam Noi traffic lights and turn left. Go 1.5k and turn right (at 7°02'47.5"N 100°31'55.8"E) then follow the road for about 1.5k to the run site (at 7°02'08.9"N 100°31'31.3"E).

Sunday's HH3 run has been entrusted to Sex Au Au and the run site is somewhere in the wastelands behind Macro. Details of how to get there, in the form of a map, will, it is hoped be added later.

Meanwhile, don't forget Little Tool and Tool Box's birthday party at Oscar's Bar on Friday night 1st June from 6:00 p.m. to which all are cordially invited.

As promised. From Wat Keow Kloy take Poonakan for about 9k and turn left at the hash sign then go across the klong and up the hill to a T junction and turn right onto the road coming from Gam Ling reservoir. (You can also get onto that road from the Ban Nai Lai turning but that's another story.) Look for the hash sign and then turn left and go an indeterminate distance to the run site on the right.

Ageless

This Saturday, our longest established active runner and our newest naming join forces to set a run together, and we're not saying which is which!
Details are:
Songkhla Hash House Harriers' run # 1925, Saturday May 26, 2018
Hares: Raprakaa and Wi Wi
Misdirections: From the Koh Yor intersection go 7.4 km on the New Hatyai Road, make a sharp left turn at the entrance to the Korakot Restaurant (see picture below); go 200 meters and make a right turn then go 300 meters to the run site 
at  7.101813° N 100.526071° E.

The hares offer some cautionary advice:
 1. The road in front of the restaurant is rough with a large bump that will spoil the bottom of low sitting cars.  
 2.  Proceed past the run site for 200 meters, turn around and park near the run site on the left facing the main road.  There is an alternative turning place 50 m past the run site, on the left, but large ditches and uneven surface can also spoil your day if you get things slightly wrong.
3.  It goes without saying that mosquito repellent is a good idea!

Sunday's HH3 run will be set by Robocop and will be from the same run site as was used by SH3 (not HH3) last week, i.e. 1.3k along from Wat Pru Toh on the PruToh-Tung Ngai road or if you are coming from Poonakan, 5.5k from either Wat Keow Kloy or the  Kanchanawanit Road end, turn right or left, respectively and go 2.8k  (7.029317° N, 100.545433° E)

Yesterday's run and today's directions.

 A better than average turnout turned out and both long (7.1k) and short (4.5k) runs were well supported. The Beer stop almost didn't occur as the long run pack narrowly beat the hare, who was out laying the in trail for the short run, to the meeting point. But anguished cries of "Beer stop! Beer stop!" did the trick and the pack returned to enjoy the beer shortly before they were joined by the front end of the short run pack. The rest of the long run was therefore somewhat less athletically achieved and the 5th F, which must have been all of 10 meters long, caused some problems, with the result that the long run took close to an hour and a half to finish and trailed even the back end of the short run pack home.

Today's HH3 run is on the road leading up to Kan Lao - from Wat Keow Kloy take Poonakan Road for 5.5k and turn left just before Wat Tung Ngai (or from the bottom of Poonakan take it for 5.5k and turn right just after Wat Tung Ngai.) Follow the road for about 3.5k and turn right at the HH3 sign then follow the road until you see signs of a runsite.

Once more unto the breach...

Without the firm hand of the hare-raiser to fill the roster last week, this week's hares are again Egghead and co, and just for a change the run site is not a million miles from Poonakan, but this time on the other side of the road, not far from the Or Bor Tor at Pru Toh.
Details are:
Songkhla Hash House Harriers' run #1924, Saturday May 19th, 2018, 4:30 p.m.
Hares: Egghead etc.
Misdirections: From the Ko Yo intersection take the old Hatyai road for 10k to the Nam Noi traffic lights and turn left for 3.7k then turn right immediately after Wat Pru Toh for 1.3k to the run site on the left. From Hatyai, If you are coming from the PSU end of Poonakan, take the left turn at 5.5k just after Wat Tungnai and go 2.8k. The run site is on the right.

No news from HH3 yet, but there is the suggestion of a trip to Yala for a run there on 29th May (which is a holiday). The run actually takes place in Yala city and starts at 6:00 a.m. although there seem to be 4, 10, 21 and 42k options so that may depend on which one you feel capable of! If we were going to do it, it would probably be sensible to go down the previous evening and stay over night. Sex Sprinter is offering to put people up at his house down there which would probably involve sleeping bags and back pain, but Yardo has access to a resort with the unlikely name of the Egg House (really, really!) which costs 500 Baht a night for a room and has a nice area available to sit out in the moonlight and drink ...lime cordial-yeah! There is an online registration form (but no details) here. This will probably be discussed at the weekend so think about it!

HH3 Today

,,,which roughly translated means that it's opposite the Sai Kao Resort. Get to Tha Kham and head East (towards the big tree) then look for a sign and turn right into the  rubber at about 4k. The hares  are Mr. Bean and Moo Toon with Sex Printer providing technical advice. HH3 runs start around 4:15 p.m. but call someone if you are going to be late and they'll wait.

No Frills

With only time for a single recce and a late decision to set on Friday afternoon instead of Saturday, there was every chance that 1923 would be a disaster. But it all turned out ok with the modestly large pack following Sex Sprinter round for most of the way  before he disappeared off into short-cut land managing to rejoin the pack just as it began the final descent back to the runsite. All up, the long run was 7k including the generous X at the furthest point of the run which caught Stick Insect and had most of the long runners back together before the real ascent of the hill after 360 7. First home was SI as SS moved over to let him lead the pack home in 1 hr 12 mins, well after most of the short run were home from their 3.8k. The long run ascended 270m with the maximum just over 160m while the shout run ascended about half that to the same maximum height. Heartfelt pleas for shorter circles were heeded and everything was done and dusted by 7:00 p.m., so fast in fact that Palm Job was away and homeward bound before R2D2 could even politely inquire after a lift home. Meanwhile, Egghead slunk home for a well-earned break from haring duties... NOT! He's the hare next week!

More Egg

This week's SH3 run gives Egghead another chance to add to his haul of lays as it approaches 250 for SH3 with another 140 or so for HH3 and HFMH3. You'd think after all those he might set a decent run once in a while!

This weekend's effort is conveniently placed in Poonakan, just in case the GM has a transport problem again! Details are:
Songkhla Hash House Harriers' run #1923, Saturday May 12, 2018, 4:30 p.m.
Hares: Egghead and Harram
Misdirections: From the Ko Yo intersection take the old Hatyai road for 4.7k then turn left for 8k then right (at Wat Keow Kloy) for 1.3k and then turn left for 500m to the run site. From the PSU end of Poonakan, the turning is at about 10k on the right. or if you are coming from Nam Noi, then get to Tha Kham, and head South for 2k to Wat Keow Kloy then turn right for 1.3k etc.

HH3 details for Sunday to follow shortly.

Deja vous?

Lady of the Lamp recovered from his apparently terminal directagnosia to realize that this was his own run (SH3 1919 - was it really only 3 runs ago?) set without some of the more extravagant additions. The short run reached the (unmarked - somewhere after F8) beer stop in about 50 mins. The long run got there in an hour 11.
What happened next? Too difficult to explain!

The almost non-return of the GM

After travelling halfway around the world to be with us at the hash on Saturday, and cancelling an important prior engagement, our GM was forgotten by our anonymous front runner (SS, no not the one in Blighty), and left waiting at the door at her home in Hatyai. Jumping on her steed and racing to be at the circle for the start of the run, meanwhile being rescued and escorted to the runsite by YS, our beloved GM, All Black, made a tumultuous return, to once again lead the flock through the valleys of horror.
Well actually more like the horrible hills, if one was to listen to the complaints of the back-checked long (& short) runners.
The long run was in fact only 4.8km long and only a mere 175m in ascent, so it should have been one of the easiest runs of the year. Admittedly there were the 3 check-backs & 7 false trails which may have added a little bit to the length, if anyone, and quite a few of the long runners did, venture down, or up, most of them. Luckily due to the tight confines of the surrounding hills, no-one was lost and everyone returned to the runsite for a rather long & boisterous circle.

The return of the GM

This weekend sees the return of our glorious leader who has been away in foreign parts collecting delicacies for us to enjoy, a selection of which she will no doubt be bringing on Saturday to the run site, details of which are:

Songkhla Hash House Harriers' run #1822, Saturday May 5, 2018, 4:30 p.m.
Hares: Yardstick and Little Tool.
Misdirections: From the Kao Seng intersection take the old Yala road south for 17.6km (6.9km from the NYR / OYR intersection at Ang Thong) and turn right just after Ban Thang Khwai School with the bright yellow fence. After 1.2km turn right and follow the track through the rice paddies for 500m, turning right at the second ‘T’ junction for a further 800m to the runsite.

From Hatyai, get to the Tha Kham crossroads and head East for 6km to the big tree then go straight ahead for a further 3.5km to Wat Khun Thong on the old Yala road, and turn right for 1.7km then turn right just after Ban Thang Khwai School. After 1.2km turn right and follow the track & signs for 1.3km to the runsite. The tracks are good all weather tracks, suitable even for little March’s and shopping trolleys, ….and the run is totally canine safe.

Sunday's HH3 run is being set by Kai Jeow and Moo Sahb and the runsite is at the big sala at Napong: From the Kuan Hin Traffic lights on the old Hatyai road, turn left if coming from the Ko Yo intersection, or right if coming from Hatyai and follow the road for 5.2k, bearing right with the road at 4k rather than going off on the left turning. Turn left opposite the temple arch for Wat Borogam and go 500m to the run site at 7.074554° 100.606316°.