The return of Songkhla Swap 'em!

This Saturday's SH3 run is the last of 2018 and will feature another chance to show off your card-playing skills on the run, as it were, with another attempt at Songkhla Swap 'em. Full instructions on the day and there will be prizes for the best men's and ladies' hands with some spot prizes as well. The aim is to have a bit of fun and although the runs will be up to the usual high standard you have all come to expect at SH3 they will not be excessively demanding and those of you who are still suffering nightmares after last weekend's HH3 outing can rest assured that there will be positively no hills! So with a beer stop sponsored by the returning Short Screw to boot, please try to come along and help us to end the year on a high note if not at high altitude!
Details are:
Songkhla Hash House Harriers' run #1955, Saturday December 29, 2018, 4:00 p.m.
Hares: Eightball and Egghead
Misdirections: From Songkhla take the old Hatyai road for 4.7k and turn left for 4.2k and then left for 1.7k, then turn right and follow the track for 350m to the runsite by the lake at 7.053766° N100.583731°E. From Hatyai get to Tha Kham and go north for 2k then turn right for 1.7k etc.
For those whose vehicles have sensitive undersides, there is a short section of the 1.7k bit of the road which is quite badly potholed and while it is traversable with care, there are a couple of alternative routes available either from the Songkhla or Hatyai directions, which can be worked out from the map below. They will not be signed but are quite easy to follow.

Click on it to make it bigger!

Hatyai H3's party takes place on Sunday December 30 at Superpig's auxiliary residence in Poonakan Soi 10. It seems probably that there will be some kind of optional run before the party but there are no details available at present. The cost will be 200 Baht which will include beer and food. For those who don't want to drive home afterwards, there will be floor space available if you want to bring a sleeping bag and your pj's. More details later as they emerge or are dragged unwillingly from the horse's mouth!

Finally, don't forget that this Friday (28 December) will see the rebirth of the Songkhla quiz night at Oscars Bar on Soi Srisuda starting at 8 p.m. with Big Alex wearing the quizmaster's hat. Plans are afoot to break the cliquey team syndrome so it would be really nice to get a decent turnout so that we are not faced with another SH3 versus the evil teachers showdown. Khun Pui will be providing the snacks and there will be plenty of reasonably priced beer available so why not come along and help to keep this little bit of Songkhla's Farang tradition alive.

Hard core

With a number of people away and pledges of support from others failing to materialize, yesterday's SH3 pack consisted of the hard core who all set off on one or other of the runs and all successfully made it  to the serve-yourself beer stop and thence on home. The weather was kind, so although some careful negotiation was required to avoid getting wet feet early on, the run stuck pretty much to well-trodden trails and was dry underfoot if you stuck to the paper.

The hare swept the long run and was successful in preventing egregious short cutting, managing to be optimally positioned at F7 to stop Sex Sprinter from cutting off back via the road, sending him up the hill with the rest of the pack, but he later made an attempt to come down the hill early, only to have to back track in order not to miss the beer stop.

The long run was 8.3k with, and 7k without the Fs and Xs while the short run was 4.7k with the 2 Fs it included. The long run managed to get above 100m for a short section of the hill and with a total ascent of only 135m was anything but hard core, while the short run stayed pretty much on the flat only briefly dropping below 40m and hitting a maximum of 70m just after rejoining the long run. Palm Job forgot his offer to sponsor the beer stop but then made up for it by buying a case of beer from the beer truck and despite the low attendance the beer truck looked conspicuously short of beer when the last runners departed from the run site at about 8 p.m. Only a Yolk provided the Kao soy which was more or less polished off as well, with lots of people going back for seconds.

Pretty much everybody was iced for something, including the goody-goodies who did nothing punishable, who shall remain nameless in their shame. Paul McKinerny returned after a couple of years and didn't require rescuing this time round, but avoided the ice by not being named yet. The GM graciously owned up to not sticking to paper, thereby ending up with wet feet, and tempting Superpig to the same fate. Buk Toy, Mr. Bean and Squealer were punished for mysteriously arriving at the sixth F from completely the wrong direction suggesting that they must have been guilty of long-cutting. Sex Sprinter avoided being iced for short cutting but was done for not calling and not relaying paper at an F as well as some premature calling before the first X had been allowed to do it's job.

Hares, Egghead, and Rot Rakaa who couldn't make the run itself, were thanked for a couple of adequate runs, while Harram and Two Thousand Baht a Kilo, neither of whom were allowed by their master to be present, were also recognized in absentia. So it's On! On! to the final SH3 run of the year next week which should include the return of Short Screw and it is to be hoped a few of the others who were unable to make it yesterday so that we can end 2018 on a high note. Who's the hare? No need to ask....

Solstice Hash In Thailand

Map courtesy of Sex Sprinter

Saturday is the winter solstice and the full moon to boot and Songkhla Hash will be marking the two occasions with a little run entitled Solstice Hash In Thailand which appropriately will be set by Egghead and Rot Rakaa with beer sponsorship  on the run by Palm Job.
Details are:
Songkhla Hash House Harriers' run # 1954, Saturday, December 22, 2018, 4:00 p.m.
Hares Egghead, Rot Rakaa and doggies
Misdirections: From the Kao Seng intersection take the old Yala road for 11.2k and turn right then follow the road past Wat Kao Lam for 2.2k to a crossroads and go straight ahead for another 1.7k, then turn right on the road heading towards Phu Kao Long for 1k to the run site on the right at 7.050189° 100.613623°.  Alternatively from the Ko Yo  intersection take the old Hatyai road for 4.6k and turn left for 6k then at the Tha Kham crossroads head east for 5k and turn left under the new temple arch for 500m then bear left on the road to Phu Kao Long etc. From Hatyai get to Tha Kham and go east etc.

Sunday's HH3 run has been moved from the runsite announced last Sunday and is now on the southern side of Route 43 in the big scenic quarry at 6°58'07.6"N 100°29'58.5"E: From the Klong Wa intersection beyond Makro, take Route 43 east for 2.8k and do a U turn then come back 400m to the run site on the left. If you want to approach the run site from Pijit/Na Mom direction, take the 4.6k turnoff from the Old Hatyai road and follow it for about 13k to its junction with Route 43 then turn right and go 10.5k to the run site on the left. The hares include but are not necessarily limited to Sex Kapook and Sex Star.

Map courtesy of Sex Printer

Also,  a little bird tells us that the HH3 party on December 30th will now happen in Poonakan Soi 10 and not at the abandoned restaurant in Songkhla opposite Tesco. Details will no doubt be debated and democratically decided upon this Sunday at the HH3 run including whether or not there will be a run preceding and what form the entertainment will take.

Anything that can go wrong...

Sunday's HH3 run narrowly avoided disaster on a number of counts, not the least of which was that the beginning of the run had to be substantially replanned on the hoof owing to some of the small river crossings planned having turned into raging torrents, as a result of which, the hare ran out of paper towards the end of the run. Then in the afternoon there seemed to be the possibility that no one would be able to get  to the runsite anyway because of the wedding of the year strategically located at the center of the village. But Sex Printer and Nong Gop saved the day on that count by working out an alternative route, moving the sign and laying paper, so that everyone who wanted to made it, albeit a bit late.

That meant that the run did not start until 4:30 which for an 8.5k all-up run with a 5.8k short run was rather late. But most of the short run arrived at the beer stop in good time to resume the proper run making the hare's efforts in actually finishing laying it after the packs had departed, worthwhile. Meanwhile the absence of three short runners was noted but they dutifully arrived at the beer stop while the late-arriving long runners were enjoying their well-earned refreshments by which time, aided and abetted by the stolidly falling rain, it beginning to get dark, forcing the hare to sanction everyone walking back to the run site on the road rather than via the last kilometer of the trail.

At that point Toy Boy's absence was noted, but the hare decided to re-lay paper along the road and return to the run site anyway in case Toy Boy had decided to go that way. However, back at the runsite, the toll was 7 runners missing all apparently having embarked on the long run. But just as search parties were being organised with night now rapidly falling and the rain not easing off, all happily turned up together avoiding the need to deploy them.

With 7 generous F's and a check back to boot, the long run reduced to something over 7k, getting up to a high point of about 190m with a total ascent of about 260m. The short run meanwhile which only had to face 3 of the F's reduced to about 5.3k and had nothing more than a climb out of the final valley to face. The circle was held in the unrelenting rain, following which there were some problems getting all the vehicles off the run site as mud had now set in. Meanwhile the wedding had called it a day so those who decided to risk the direct way out were rewarded with an easy drive home.

Wedding warning!

If you are coming to HH3 this afternoon, there's a wedding in Ban Sai Kao (or there was this morning) at the point where the road splits about 150m up from the main turn off by the big tree. I have put a sign out to indicate the road but there may be cars parked in front of it, so don't forget, go straight ahead at that point, don't turn right. And be careful of the hole on the right hand side of the road about 500m further on where the concrete runs out.

Psycho?

Two runs in the Sai Khao area this weekend which makes route finding easy! Saturday's hare advises:<<In response to Robocop’s “sabai” run last Sunday, this weeks SH3 run is promised to be equally “sabai”, or maybe just boring. Anyway due to the shortness of the days' sunlight currently, and mindful of the inclement weather we have been experiencing lately, Saturday’s run is promised to be on the shorter side, and not too challenging. >>
Details are:
Songkhla Hash House Harriers' run #1953, Saturday December 15, 2018, 4:00 p.m.
Hares: Yardstick and Not the Full Shilling
Misdirections:  From Songkhla, either take the 16k turning right off the old Yala road and go 5.1k (1.6k past the big tree) to the run site on the left in the rubber opposite Sai Kao Resort at 7.039405°N 100.608389°E or get to Tha Kham (old Hatyai road 4.7k left and go 6k) and turn left (east) for about 4.5k when the runsite will be on the right. From Hatyai: get to Tha Kham and head east towards the big tree etc. 

Sunday's (December 16) HH3 run is from the football field behind Ban Sai Khao at 7.033834°N 100.624647°E and is being set by Kai Jeow, The turning into Sai Khao village is close to the big tree so if you are coming from Tha Kham, it is about 6k on the right, or from the old Yala road it is 3.6k on the left. Follow the road for 150m then go straight ahead as the road bends sharply to the right. Follow the concrete road across the paddy and through the village for about 500m to the run site. But beware! just before you reach the run site at the point at which the concrete road turns into a dirt track, there is a hole on the right hand side of the road where the water has washed a culvert bank away. There is enough room to get past on the left so try not to drive into it! Park on the northern end of the grass football field if dry or only a bit wet but if it is raining substantially then head for the concrete football pitch beyond the southern end of the grass pitch.

HH3 Tomorrow-today!

Tomorrow's HH3 run is from the Football field at Kuanjong, which for the uninitiated is at  6.975149°N 100.520453°E or thereabouts. If you prefer good old-fashioned hash directions, from Wat Keow Kloy at the top of Poonakan go 7.5k down Poonakan and turn left onto the Ban Nai Lai road. Go 3.5k and turn left for about 200m to the run site on the right. If you are coming from Hatyai, the Ban Nai Lai turning is 3.5k up from the other end of Poonakan at the corner of PSU and Kanjanawanit road. The hare is Robocop - the nice Robocop, not the formerly tyrranical unmerciful Robocop who used to destroy Monday mornings with his runs, but the gentle considerate lovey-dovey Robocop who only sets "wing sabai"s. Map above for the disproportionality tolerant.

Banana anyone?

In the vain hope of fooling our resident short-cutter, who shall remain nameless, the hare attempted a stunning reversal of direction midway through the run apparently to no avail, only for the nameless short-cutter to get tripped up by the last-but-one check thus arriving at the beer stop from the wrong direction.

Meanwhile the short run en-masse succumbed to the hare's subtle hints and opted for the long run leaving Chao Ngor as the only actual short runner, with Only a Yolk, Meals on Wheels and Eightball opting for the medium run by getting onto the truck at the beer stop.
The long run all in was just over 8k reducing to just under 7k without all that checky stuff. The short run was about 4k with the effy stuff and the medium run was around 5k whichever way you looked at it. Total ascent for those who did either the long or medium runs was around 240m with the maximum height about 150m. More to the point, everyone was back ate the run site by 5:40 p.m. with no one having to be redirected, rescued or resuscitated.
Great circle followed. It doesn't get much better than this!

No sign!

For anyone coming to this afternoon's SH3 run from Songkhla, be aware that there is no sign at the 4.7k turn off the old Hatyai road by the m/c taxi stand. But there will be one at the turn off at Pijit (8k'ish up that road, 2.3k beyond Wat Keow Kloy) from about 3:00 p.m. If you are earlier than that, look for shreddy at the mouth of the road and shortly afterwards at the right turn towards the run site which is also marked with piles of shreddy.

Pitch it!

(So, guys... I had this idea for a run, out at Pijit, you know, where I go out and lay a trail and everyone else tries to follow it. And I thought we might drink some beer afterwards.
Ok, Egghead. Sounds like a good idea to us! why don't you run with it and see how the jelly wobbles!)
Details are:
Songkhla Hash House Harrier's run #1952, December 8, 2018: 4:00 p.m.
Hares: Egghead and Harram
Misdirections: From the Ko Yo intersection take the old Hatyai road for 4.7k and turn left. Go through the traffic lights at Tha Kham (6k) and at Wat Keow Kloy (8k) go ahead for a further 2.3k then turn left and after 200m turn right (it used to be straight ahead but it's now definitely a right turn!) Follow the road and track for 1.2k to the run site on the left at N7 00.641 E100 35.691. From Hatyai get to the top of Poonakan and go south for 2.3k then turn left etc.
The whereabouts or who-abouts of HH3's run on Sunday has not yet been revealed so will be added later when it is.