A very special Hash House Harriers
Normally our events pull in somewhere between 15-30 people. 30 attendees would be considered a great turnout for our thrice weekly runs. However, yesterday we had a "Solstice International Run" and people from all over the place turned up, mostly from Malaysia.
Normally we have to get 1 pickup truck, maybe 2 with the seats in the back (called a "songtaew" in Thai) in order to get everyone to the event... yesterday we needed 11. There was over 100 people at hour run and at first I thought it was going to be cool having that many people in attendance but after it all, I don't think I will attend these things in the future.
Our afternoon began with some carb loading at our local health-food restaurant. You need to have road fuel! Then we coordinated getting 120 people to a remote hiking site that 90% of them would never be able to find without transport. It was pretty chaotic as even 2 of the bus drivers got lost on the way there.
We ended up starting the run 20 minutes late and this is a bad thing when you are racing the clock against sundown.
Since we were near a dam, it came as very little surprise that we ended up needing to hike to the top of it. For me, and I think just about everyone else in attendance, this was the most difficult part even though no one was running.
We got treated to a nice view from the top and then ran all the way along the service road which was clearly marked "Authorized Personnel Only" as we jumped multiple barricades. Sorry about that but this is kind of what we do and yes, we do get in trouble for it from time-to-time.
This app is called "Strava" by the way and it is free and a great way to track your cardio
This wasn't a long run, but it was a tough one due to the sharp climbs and descents at multiple points. I kept a pretty decent pace considering that it wasn't possible for me to run at a lot of sections.
The trouble or irritating aspect of this whole thing began at the circle we hold at the end where everyone gathers around to drink beer and make funny speeches to one another. There was a great lack of respect on the part of the visitors who wouldn't stop their side chatter to pay attention to who was speaking. I was actually a bit surprised about how this group of people mostly in their 40's and up, absolutely refused to STFU to allow the person to speak. One particular group from Malaysia was so disrespectful that after the Hash their invitation for this Saturday's event was rescinded.
It always amazes me when adults, who presumably live rather respectful lives and have jobs and kids and what not, can have a complete lack of respect.
All of the Chiang Mai people were happy to "close the circle" early and get the hell out of there.
This is the universal Hash House Harriers logo by the way
I thought it would be more fun to have more people at one of our events, but now I know that the smaller groups are far better. Therefore, I can't really recommend attending a large HHH even. I know that I wont and I certainly wont be involved in hosting a large event in the future.
Anyway, the run was fun as it always is and I enjoyed the beers (as I tend to) but the monkey-like behavior of the visitors ruined the day. Hopefully they will behave themselves on Saturday because I am already committed to that event.
You have an excellent time by the way, on that elevation level and uneven surface, that is great, so congratulations! Also for using Strava. I've heard it's reliable and maybe the best. Looking forward to your next sports post. We need nice post like yours :)
Oh, you have no idea. I often have to do trainings for the teachers where I work and they are seriously worse than the kids. There have been several times I have wanted to stop what I was doing and ask them if they would allow kids to act the way they are acting while I am speaking. It's like they seriously have no clue or they just really don't care. That is too bad that this didn't turn out the way you hoped it would. That is kind of cool that they pulled the invitation to that one group though!
When i was a teacher a few years ago I thought that I would rather teach English to adults. There are not many full-time jobs doing this though. In the few part-time gigs I got to teach adults I ended up feeling the same way that you did here though. I couldn't wait to get back to the kids. I started to want to ask them "Why did you pay to come here if you aren't going to take it seriously and just chat with one another the whole time?"
The funny thing about the run situation is that there actually were children there and they were all in the back, being quiet.
Wow, friend @gooddream, my admiration for having made such a long and complex career. It is a great effort, but I imagine you have the physical conditions to do it. I'm sorry you had to watch those rude and disrespectful people who messed up the activity. There is never a lack of such people in groups as large as the one you described. But forget that, and keep the satisfaction that you've achieved a spectacular career. Greetings, my friend.
What an awesome community event... although, to return the favour recently received... "I hate this post! hahahaha because it reminds me of how grossly unfit I am, how jealous I am because this sort of thing is mostly not safe to do here in SA anymore (not even in large groups) believe it or not. SO SAD! I used to go walking in the mountains alone just a few years ago! Now... groups as many as 15 - 20 get targeted for robbery (and worse) in our mountains.
oh that's so tragic about not being able to do stuff outside but I have heard that this is the situation in South Africa now. It's a pity. I am surprised to hear that groups that large get targeted. What an awful place to live (no offense).
Well as far as us hating on another's posts are concerned it is ok that you are unfit because you have kids and live somewhere dangerous and it is ok that I don't often cook delicious stuff because I live alone and my dog gets pretty excited about being offered really anything i make.
Yes it is indeed very sad... all our most beautiful places have become hot spots for crime. As for the living here haha... we are so conditioned to it all, we barely notice (that too is sad), but the beauty of the place and it's people makes up for it!!
hahahaha no hate here.... only love! ;)
!giphy virtual+hug
giphy is supported by witness untersatz!
After a long time HHH. and that seems like quite a long one though. and dragging upto remote area was quite a hectic part. But seems like you enjoyed overall.
Keep flourishing.
it's such a great group and I can't say enough great stuff about it. I am quite certain that these guys are going to be my friends for life. Plus as i have detailed before, a lot of these guys and girls are in their 70's and staying fit because of it. I will continue to go to these things until i am no longer physically capable of doing so.
You should be super fit by now as you are attending a few of these now. Smaller groups are always much better for this type of thing. You should have rules in place with penalty drinks for the uncivilized.
There are rules in place. It's funny (and upsetting) to me that it is the adults that don't adhere to them. What can you do - the only penalties you can really do is to not allow them to attend the next event... which sucks because they traveled all this way and will almost certainly hold a grudge against our relatively small chapter in the future even though it is entirely their fault.