Tag Archives: Sunspot

4th July – CH3 – Team USA

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Kwazi, Frozen & Rooter teamed up for a USA themed run. How many hares does it take to fuck up a run? 5 o’clock came, and went… Apparently we were waiting for Sloppy Rod… Finally we climbed aboard the songthaew and set off to the B. It was a B->A. I am in favour of runs that aren’t just circles, but I much prefer an A->B, than a B->A… The logistics are the same either way – transport is either needed at the start, or at the end, but with A->B, we don’t know where we are trying to get to which makes the checks much harder. The thought of an A->B was too much for Horny Monkey, Does Nothing and Sunspot, who chose to walk along the dam for a bit. The rest of us finally got started on the run around 5:30. Thankfully it is getting dark late (I should remember that next week!)

It kicked off with some temple steps, but only around 100. And then a virtual check at the top. Sloppy went right, back down the hill, Lollipop (long time returner) went left, and I carried on straight up the hill. Not far along I spotted a bright orange rimping plastic bag dangling from a tree in front of me. Nice I thought… I jogged up, and this was the unique aspect of the run. Rather than calling On-On, we were to set fire to some fire crackers. I pulled the bag down, and inspected the contents. I have never set fire to fire crackers before, and had no idea what bit I should set fire to. Frankly I avoid town during Loi Kratong, at least in part because it scares me. I gingerly set fire to the paper, but it didn’t seem to have any effect. I was trying to get into the spirit, so called HRA over to help – he didn’t really know what to do either. CW was approaching, but just before he got there HRA figured out we needed to set fire to the string. Bang bang bang bang – we were off, UP UP UP UP!

We pressed on, steep up a hill that I’d scouted a couple of weeks ago, and decided against using. These hares were pushing on to the top. That much was clear to me, but we did run out of paper and struggled for a while to find trail again. Very hard to follow the odd bit of paper buried in bushes when we are scrambling through the brush. Not to worry, I got to the top, and a trail – off to the left a circle, so I was going right, and sure enough another bright orange bag! Many of the checks were visible a long way off, but the fire crackers did make a fun difference. I got the hang of lighting them, and collected lighters as I nailed a few checks – seriously I was thinking of setting something similar next Monday, but will go to Doi Saket instead.

Another check, and a nice little trail that cut down to the right, and then we were on the main trail. A long, long stretch without checks. :( I pushed as hard as I could, but CW & Piggy closed me down. As they swept past I struggled to get my pacing back together. I expected us to drop down into the valley to run it out, but instead the hares kept us on top of the ridgeline, and surprised me with the final descent – I will remember that one for sure!

22nd March – CSH3 – Sunspot

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Sunspot teamed up with Krap Thai, and I was expecting a short leisurely jog. Out past Maerim, there was a sizable group of FRBs turned up to play. With smokey air we were hoping for rain that didn’t come. Turkish led a group for an immediate short cut with Sups & Graven skipping the first couple of checks. Local knowledge I guess told them there was no way through a quarry. Either way we were bunched up with powder hard to find in places.

We crossed a creek a few times, and we started trying to figure out which side of it we were. I was a bit disoriented, and a late circle check on a bridge took an age to find. 4th time lucky, Gorf had missed some powder where he checked first, and with the 2nd blob around a corner 50m further on, it was no wonder we didn’t pick it up quicker. I led the way back into the rice fields, towards the aqueduct… I still wasn’t sure which side of it we should be, so when I had a circle check, I was too slow to go and check. Sure enough the trail took us over the 700m or so. A narrow path with water rushing one side and a steep cliff the other. Yes, there was a rail, but I opted out and picked my way through the paddy to scramble back in.

I wasn’t expecting 7.5km, but it was good one.

8th December – CH4 – Big Top

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Big Top had been scouting this run with much effort for a few weeks, and she’d chosen one of “my” areas out in Maejo. I love that area – and I’ve set a bunch of runs there, having scouted the hell out of it! It was awesome to finally get to run a hash there not knowing where it would go – but also having great knowledge about where it could (or more importantly could not) go.

We anticipated a small turn out with the boys away, but were lucky to get a couple of virgins and a couple of visitors – all of whom were serious runners / hashers. With Sunspot and Crap Thai coming along, it was a good turn out. In the early stages I got quite a few checks wrong, and ended up overtaking Robin Banks again and again, even though he’d suggested he was going to follow me. Big Top had found a couple of bits that I hadn’t done before, or didn’t remember quite, before we headed into a hill I know very well.

I got a couple of checks right and was going well, until the inevitable slap in the face! To foil me, the hare had set a 150m circle check, which brought the pack nicely back together. We’d done about 3-4km and there was the nice trail heading back to the A off a circle check – it wasn’t that way! I was behind again, with Humperdick questioning if I’d checked far enough. But no – the hare had an extra loop for us.

Awesome run, a lot of fun! Nobody had anything negative to say! The FRBs came in at 45:08, the rest of the pack came in within 5 minutes. Sunspot came in from a different direction, and BendOver came in after the rest of us – as he’d set off quite a while after us. Then we had the circle – where most of us seemed brain dead, but Big Top pulled it together and put out one of the best circles recently. So good that pretty much everyone carried on to the OnOnOn at a Burmese restaurant in town. If there are 3 elements to the hash – a big check in all 3 boxes!

Besides the hare’s efforts, the other key addition was Square Rooter deciding to fall off the wagon on his 70th birthday! The 3 beer Berrio was solid – Hashy Birthday Sir!

5th January – CSH3 OUTSTATION – Byte My Yahoo & Unplugged

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Looking back over my history running with CSH3 – the first Outstation of the year was usually in February – time enough to recover from the ‘festive season’. Dr Byte must have had some ingenious plan for making the OS the first run of the New Year.

Having survived the end of the World, 1111 and the Fiscal Cliff – just what did the virile duo have in mind? Mae Moh is home to the largest open pit lignite mine in Thailand (extra fascinating info here – http://www.mine-planning.com/Homepage/publications_documents/maemoh.pdf). I had Googled the location and Dr Byte had posted a couple of tempting photo’s to whet our appetites’.

The Friday before was a ‘golfing day’ – I hear this was a great success with one beer per stoke after the 4th hole, and this was followed by a night of drunken debauchery I can’t even begin to write about.

Perhaps wisely I set off on Saturday with Mr Poo and Knockout – what a delight, Knockout sitting up front with me was Poo’s desperate plan to make me drive ‘sensibly’ – and I did – more time with Knockout – thanks Poo – your very lucky and hope you both will be very happy. En route Dr Byte called and asked us to get some powder – huh!? This was a bit ominous – earlier in the morning he called me – and I thought it was some deranged pervert heavy breathing down the line – had he been laying trail or laying Unplugged!!??

Duly we arrived at the EGAT facility with its small town of 1970’s box student dorms – Dick Tracy was the first we encountered and I decided to leave Mr & Mrs Poo to settle in while take a quick look at the mine and power plant.

Behind the power plant were some very tempting looking hills (mountains) – Horny Monkey knew I’d like it here – and I did!

OK OK – enough pre-amble, so what was the run like?

The hares had organised a luxury (compared to the songtheow) coach to take us to A – Wow! – what a place to start a run – a platform sticking out over the valley with the mine and reservoir below – very cool indeed!

So photo op and moment to catch up friends – good to see Big Top and Red Carpet back in town. The hare brief was given an Dr Byte and Unplugged wanted a 2 min head start for an initial live hared section (hence the powder call). Unplugged was clearly visible going up a tower to no-where (that only Horny Monkey gamely went) while BmY arced off to set the real trail. Dick Tracy and Sunspot ignored the 2 mins and raced after him. Dick the Boy Wonder was valiantly trying to delay us by singing some obscure/obscene Texan Hash song – but as the 2 mins popped up – off I went.

Sunspot has been running pretty well of late and had probably 500m under his belt, with Dick Tracy racing ahead – I had to run him down to get to the first check. I’m sure BmY was delighted at the 500m checking I did – wrong! He was chuckling away at the check and rightly predicted I’d catch up with the pack soon enough.

In the middle of ‘thorn forest’ – the checks were tricky and did really well confusing the hell out of us with FRB lead changing frequently. Horny Monkey and Skid Mark seemed to be most energetic – taking it in turns to find the Skiddy Stix. HRA seemed to be getting nearly every check wrong, until he lucked out and the ‘thorn tunnels’ section of the run.

Here HRA used his advantage and powered ahead with Big Top, Game Set & Snatch, visitor Skiddy, Shagless, Red Carpet, Pamala, Mr Poo and me in pursuit.

For the short cutters there was a convenient road parallel to the ‘tunnels’ – so they easily kept up with Thobbing Ninja and Superman enjoying our shrieks at getting skewered with thorns and stickers every few meters.

Looking to the East – there were gorgeous mountains were crying out for a (Lanna?) hash on/up then, but BmY would have none of that – dirt, stickers, cow shit, flat, flat and more flat were on his mind and he joyfully kept popping up at every other check to marvel at how well he was keeping the pack together.

The highest elevation change was a mere 4 meters – but it was great fun. Just under 7km we came On In to the waiting coach – overlooking the stunning valley as the sun was beginning to set. Everyone came in close together – Frozen Dick was in ahead of the foragers – Cumalot, Super Bitch and Throbbing Ninja.

Screwed Up ran his first run since his knee op and well deservedly got the Male Wings.

The circle was joyful and fun – beer flowed and humour grew as the sun set over the valley – excellent job hares!

OnOn
BD