Some of our Hares are now giving previews of upcoming trail runs

First of all let me explain what a "Hare" is. We are the Hash House Harriers and a "hare" is someone who goes out in the week prior to a trail run and creates a brand new trail that we have never done before. This makes the run a lot more interesting because it is fresh and we don't even know where the trail is going to go until the moment that we are doing it. This is where a lot of the fun comes in because at certain points along the trail you will encounter a circle that indicates that the real trail continues somewhere in a 100 meter diameter from where the circle sits. The objective is twofold: One is to make the run more interesting and Two, it allows the slower runners or walkers to catch up with the pack since it will normally take the fast runners at least a few minutes to find the new trail.

Well this all used to be a complete mystery to all of us when we would turn up but some of our Hares have taken to giving us some photos of previews of what we can expect later on that week. Some don't like the idea but I'm sure they go to great lengths to not reveal any particular path in the shots.

That is one of the shots we were given a preview of so this indicates that you better be prepared for some off roading on this run and it also looks quite wet so you better bring an extra pair of socks!

Rice paddies are lovely but they can actually be a pain in the ass on some runs because they are enormous and it guarantees that you are going to be exposed to the sun for a long period of time. We also have to careful at these places and we warn newbies to not step on the divides between the various paddies since they are simply made of dirt and if you collapse one of these walls it is a really big problem for the farm owner. Since we are trespassing every time we go on one of these runs it is very important that we stay in the good graces of the farmers.

When the Hare uploads a photo like this you can be guaranteed that they intentionally threw some hill climbs in the run and some people welcome this and others absolutely hate them. No matter what your preference is, you don't have a choice!

These things, whatever they are, used to impress me. After years of living in Chiang Mai I still don't know what purpose they actually have. These are man-made holes in the ground and I think they are places where backfill was taken for other construction projects. one thing is for sure though, you do not want to fall into one of these since the water is disgusting and it is quite difficult to get out of there should you fall in. This has only happened a handful of times but it is a nasty experience.

While I know that the hare will not have us needing to traverse through this, I think they took the photo just for shock and awe purposes. It is a stark reminder of how polluted Chiang Mai is because this water shouldn't be red. Hopefully this is just some localized something or other but that just looks nasty.

Some hares give previews and others prefer to keep it a surprise until the day of. For me, I have been doing this long enough that just by being given the general name of an area I kind of know what to expect. If you are new to the area though, every outing can be a new adventure and all are welcome to join us. There is a fee to join us but it is very minimal and includes transport as well as a bunch of beer. Feel free to come along any time you want by checking out our official website for full details.