The Koh Samui Hash House Harriers laid on a bumper weekend for the many runners who turned up from points near and far for the Run 150 hash-athon. Record numbers were recorded and strangely, the total number of participants for the three runs actually added up to 150!
The weekend kicked off with Samui's first ever night time hash with the trail being laid by Red Mullet and Mr. Whippy from the Royal Southside (men only) hash, Hong Kong. Starting near to the monkey theatre between Chaweng and Bhoput, the trail was laid using a mixture of flower splodges on the ground, supplemented by arrows and other indicators chalked on palm trees and similar convenient uprights such as gate and lamp posts. Commencing at 6.30 pm the run started in twilight but soon moved into an inky darkness that caused plenty of confusion and sojourns off the trail for the forty three participants, most of whom had never done a night run before. The first part of the course was mainly through jungle and coconut plantation with a few good hill climbs and descents thrown in for good measure, but for the most part the run utilised well travelled paths and was on the whole reasonably easy to navigate. After reaching and then crossing the main Chaweng ring road the trail took on an urban feel, wending its way through many small local housing compounds where the sight of so many crazy farangs jogging around with flash lights, blowing whistles, honking horns and yelling “on on” brought an even bigger smile to the faces of the local Thais.
The in trail was a long run along Chaweng Beach to the finish at Tradewinds Cottages where the circle was treated to a special performance by the ladies of the Wanchai (Hong Kong) Hash House Harriettes who performed a semi striptease to unveil specially printed t shirts whose cartoon theme alluded to the chauvinistic attitude of their other halves from the Southside. A mouth watering BBQ laid on courtesy of Cap'n Squall at Tradewinds then followed this festivity.
Saturday afternoon saw the largest gathering ever for a hash run on Samui, with seventy four participants. Again, the sight of such a huge number of crazy farangs, jogging en masse through the streets of Lamai town brought forth big smiles and a mixture of stares of disbelief from the Thai locals. The hares for this special occasion were For Skin and Blind Eddie from Samui and their reputation for laying “testing” runs was yet again reinforced as after a nice easy jog around the outskirts of town the trail then proceeded to climb a long and steep ascent which had many a hasher gasping for breath by the summit. But the view back across Lamai beach and the surrounding hills and valleys made the pause at the top a refresher for the eyes as well as the lungs.
The good, long run was followed by a huge circle where the two main sponsors were duly called in for down-downs and to be thanked for their generosity in supplying lots of free cases of the amber nectar used to lubricate the throats of many a thirsty hasher. So in stepped Lawrence Fay
a.k.a. “Backdoor Boogie” from Sabai Properties and Gary Pearmain from Coconut Land and House well actually Gary never made it since he somehow managed to break his arm on Thursday night, getting into the hash festivities a little too soon maybe?
This “thank you very big” was followed by Floppy Dick introducing a game involving hats made from cups that were then secured to the top of the head of a representative from each of the visiting hashes of Southside, Wanchai and Songkhla. On production of a box of eggs the plot then became apparent and the three in the middle were soon found to really have egg on their faces! Hash Music, Helix Too, then closed out the circle with a very vocal and very visual, stirring rendition of the holy hash hymn “swing low sweet chariot”.
This merriment was followed by a bumper barbecue at the Lamai hash bar, The Red Fox, where mine host Alan a.k.a. Blue Lugs, laid on a full spit roasted pig together with other entrees which included his famous chilli the recipe for which was obtained from a dying Mexican, Alan was called to try and help when he used to work for the Carlisle Ambulance Service. Allegedly the Mexican was a no hoper and he knew he just had to pass on his mamma's old time recipe before departing this mortal coil or so Blue Lugs tells us!
Sunday morning saw a torrential down pour, but still thirty three hashers turned up for the Bloody Mary Hangover Hash. Keeping to his word, the Grand Master, Camel C*nt, laid a pleasant, short run and for most this was enough. The trail commenced beside the sea at Hua Thanon and after a gentle jog along the sand, wound its way uphill past the wat and into light jungle and coconut plantations before ending in a beautiful tree lined valley behind the Lamai Hua Thanon main road. Blue Lugs mixed his special New Orleans style bloody marys that certainly had a kick to them and revitalised many a jaded hasher, preparing them for a superb closing-out continental brunch courtesy of Mr. And Mrs. Floppy Dick at their Kokomiko restaurant, near the Lamai Post Office.
The many visitors did come from all over. Large contingents from Hong Kong, Songkhla and Hat Yai, some of who were on their way back from the Interhash, held the previous weekend in Goa, India. Captain Eric graced us with his presence from the Bangkok Hash, and we had two Malaysian visitors from the Kajang Hash (7-11 & Sideway 4"), close to Kuala Lumpur, who attended thanks to the Phuket Gazette! They were riding on a ferry from Phuket to Phi Phi the previous week where they came across a copy of the Gazette featuring the GM's Samui Sam column and a write up on the forthcoming Run 150 festivities.
So all in all a great hash weekend was enjoyed by all and the many visiting hashers all left with great tales and a recommendation to their friends to visit this tropical island hash paradise.
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