Category Archives: Blog

It was down the canal road for tonight’s hash from FD’s place. For weeks we have heard about the great Rib Off between FD and Shrek, so we knew the food should be special, and after missing a few weeks because of vacation, work and exhaustion, it was nice to get back out on trail.

I set off with Cartoon in the standard start to the run, with the expected circle check – he may as well just fix a permanent circle there! It is 50/50, and this time I chose left, which was right. Too early to start running, so I walked along letting Emma Royde & Shrek nearly catch me by the next couple of checks, which I also got correct – straight on to the hills. A V check to the left, a V check to the right – I was on a roll and still not really running yet. Then a circle in the middle of a sticker patch. Overgrown trails around, but just those ugly grass seeds sticking in my feet. Emma Royde and Pigshit seemed to spend more time sitting down picking at their feet than running!

The pack was sticking together and I drifted along in the middle. I wasn’t feeling too great and had to pause at one point to empty my stomach. I lost some ground, and the found myself with Piggy towards the back. I could have easily short cut my way back, but that wasn’t the point, and with the checks it didn’t take long for me to get back near the front. It cooled off a bit, and I started feeling better. Navigating my way forward, it seemed Cartoon was setting the pace, but he got a circle badly wrong going up an unnecessary hill in the wrong direction. Shrek took control, and with Scum chasing him down he blitzed through a few checks. I was running now, but the two of them ahead weren’t letting up. Titty Smoker was on my heels as we got to the penultimate check. That was GAME OVER for Shrek – too bad buddy! The trail was a gentle decline, so the afterburners were lit and I think the whole pack was pushing it chasing Scum to the last check. Game Over Scum! I rounded the corner and picked up the paper trail. A glance over my shoulder showed Piggy chasing me down, but I knew I was close to home, and he was too far back. ON IN!

A civilised circle sat on Frozen’s back porch. Note to self – bring spare socks next week, and a jacket – it is starting to get colder! Finally it was time for the main event and the chefs hit the kitchen. For me there was a clear winner, but I’m sure everyone has their own taste, and being honest I could never claim to be a ribs expert. The potato salad competition was an unexpected bonus – for me that was much harder to call, but I suspect both competitors had help! Cheers to all for a great evening!

The gentlemen of Chiang Mai Hashing convened for the 3rd outing – this time an HRA affair in his favourite area – this time the A-site was in a farmer’s field up the hill from the canal road football field.

I have run that area many times, so I didn’t expect to find any new trails, and also having hared quite a bit with HRA I have a bit of an idea how his mind works, so the set didn’t surprise me, but it was still a fun set. In the harebrief he promised us 53 minutes for the FRBs and that was pretty much spot on – indeed I looked at my watch towards the end of the run to see how much time we had left before I decided which way to check.

We started off with a bit of climbing and a conservative pace. Shrek was ahead early, but seemed to misunderstand that when you hit a “FT” you should call out “FALSE TRAIL”, not just grab the sign and run back. Bad Shrek – no biscuit! A bit further on trail he was telling us about how he tapered for 3 days to prepare for today’s hash – is someone becoming a racist?!

We crossed back over the road to the trails closer to the football field, and then there was a nice circle to FT combination. It would have worked out even better if most of the pack hadn’t short cut their way up to the FT, but for sure the pack was together. Cartoon and Mary Poppins lead the way for a while with Titty Smoker in the mix as well. For me I seemed to have to keep thanking ABB as he kindly stepped aside for me to pass him – should I say thank-you? Should I say thank-you every time? I am grateful, but it seems a bit weird if I have to thank him again a few hundred meters later because I’ve screwed up!

Thankfully I got back into the game at the front for a bit, but HRA did manage to get into my head a bit – I know he is meticulous, and he will pull down old paper. There was one check where I found some ripped up old paper that looked like HRA had pulled it off and then dropped it, and sure enough I was right! But then there was a check that there was old paper still hanging from a leaf – surely I was wrong, but this time I was right but the paper hadn’t been taken down… So the next check I found old paper and carried on only to be way back again and having ABB step aside for me to pass again. Haring on a new level!

The pack was still together, but Shrek was edging ahead. A bit of confusion towards the end, but we were so close to home. I wanted to use my kick to finish, but there was no kick. My nose was telling me where the A-site was, but my legs were telling me they were fine as they were. Titty Smoker took off after Shrek, I walked in with Piggy. Good fun set, good exercise and then a comfortable, social, chilled out chat.

The gentlemen’s hash is off and rolling with a decent turn out for run #2. While the hash is in good shape, I wasn’t. I recently gave up beer for 100 days, but fell off the wagon, and on Saturday night happened to be chatting to Taste My Buns about getting some exercise in (ooer). Doi Ngum came up, and somehow I found myself with Shrek, Sloppy and TMB tackling the climb on Sunday – complete with the ladder obstacle. None of that is at all relevant to today’s run, except that I felt terrible all day, and nearly did a U-turn on my way to the run.

And so it is – run #2, from Cartoon’s lake. His son Duffy Duck on hand to co-hare and the mountain panorama spread out ahead of us! Would he take us on those beautiful forest trails? Or would he put us on the road and through the cowshit? Unfortunately it seemed the cowshit got the win. The pace was slow to begin with, as most seemed to be following me – I was struggling to keep going so when I got the first check wrong I couldn’t start catching up again.

I walked along for a bit with hashers ahead of me, but as we zigged and zagged into the ricefield, they were calling from ahead of me, and then from behind me. I think Pigshit was completely confused at one point when he probably assumed I was in front, but actually behind on the wrong side of a canal.

I laboured my way to the road, and across the otherside there were hashers disappearing in the distance. I persisted a short way, but realised I was probably doing my harm than good, so bailed back to the A, missing the beerstop, but got a cheerful wave from Sloppy as he drove by presumably out of work late.

Thanks for the efforts, and good to see a good group together for it – I have to manage my body a bit better to cope with it!

The gentlemen hashers of Chiang Mai gathered for their inaugural run – the founders day run for a new chapter of hashing in Chiang Mai. It was great to be back out on trail amongst a friendly positive vibe. I don’t want to dwell on the fracture that led to this moment, as the focus should be on the enjoyable evening and the positives moving forward, and after all any “male” with an email address is probably still suffering from bleeding ears caused by the petty childishness of certain email exchanges. When wannabe despots or dictators are determined to be divisive to the point of destruction, divorce can cure the dolorousness. Alliteration – awesome – moving on.

I got to the cremation place by the disco shelter a bit early – perhaps excited to be hashing again, but mostly not wanting to go back to my office after class. The signage was slightly off, and I stumbled upon a circle check – useful inside information for later! Shrek showed up just after I’d moved his sign and one by one more cars started appearing with hashers eagerly stumbling out. A collective BYO appeared to extend to “Bring Your Own Hasher” – at least for Titty Smoker who had rounded up a collection. Sheepy was the last to appear as Shrek sent us off out the entrance and left to an immediate circle check that none of us had spotted on the drive in.

Straight away we were foxed! The entrance to the disco shelter was pretty overgrown, so everyone went straight past to the circle, and we spent some time hunting around some guys garden with his dogs. Someone was insistent it was the Disco Shelter, but there certainly weren’t any disco’s going on there! Finally I found it with SS who had clearly been told where to go by the hare after he’d got changed. A few early checks with the hare being kind to us on the water crossings – one of the bridges even had metal rails to hold on to! This is gentlemanly hashing if you ask me!

It’s been a while since I’ve been here, but there are certain limits and routes that were predictable (particularly knowing where a circle would be later in the run). Nonetheless there was a decent recycling of the lead up front and the checks kept us together. Piggy and I got ahead at one point, and as we past a trail that headed up the hill Piggy launched into a discussion about how nice it would be to go up that hill and get the blood going. I scarcely had time to reply when we hit the FT and had to go back and up the hill. Cartoon wanted to go even higher up the hill and missed the trail as it cut along the edge of the hill and before long Emma Royde and I were heading back down the hill. This time I did have enough time to tell Emma to expect an FT moments before we saw it. From here we scrambled a little into a ravine – it brought back memories from a long time ago – this time the hare had tried to cut in some steps to help us scramble out and I led the way past some savage dogs around the corner to see the wide grin of the hare sat with some welcomed cold beverages.

There was a circle check at the beer stop, but this time I was 100% sure which way to go, as I knew there was a circle just around the corner. I made as if to check that way while some supped a beer. After confirming my knowledge I walked back to the drinkers and let Cartoon check in the wrong direction for a bit before the group set off on the 2nd half. The next check was the brutal one – which is strange as I had driven here in my car, and I absolutely remember the trail the hare used, and I even checked near there first, but ended up checking wrong. I had a hunch that it had to be up the hill given where the beerstop was, so even though I was reluctant, I did a huge loop around. Huge is not an understatement – when I intercepted trail I must have been 500m++ above them up the hill. I heard that Shrek had to tell the rest where to go. But now I was on trail, ahead… alone… I did hear some calls from behind as I got to the top of the hill, but luckily for me there was no check as the trail turned and went back down again – a nice quick decent down the trail that back in February we escorted the ambulance men on to rescue a stranded hasher. This time there was no holding back – hit the road and back along to the A.

A really enjoyable bit of exercise, followed by a nice chilled out circle. Hashing really is quite simple – a run / some exercise, followed by a beer and some banter. The formula was achieved and the CGH3 is born. OnOn and see you next week! Perhaps we could do without the Danish paint remover to drink?