Hash House Fun

This past Monday, I finally made it out to a run with the Hash House Harriers. HHH is a drinking club with a running problem. The club was started in 1938 in Kuala Lumpur by some British officers looking to ride themselves of the excesses of the previous weekend. Here in Vientiane, the hash meets on Monday evenings at different pubs each week. There's a 50,000kip (~$6) buy in, which gets you your fill of food and BeerLao.

Before the run, the Hare lays down a trail throughout the city. The trail is marked by blobs of chalk on the side of the road, and includes many false trails. At intersections, there was a circle laid down and the trail could go down any of the surrounding roads. A few runners would check out each path looking for the correct trail. A wrong trail was marked by an X, usually placed about 50-100 yards from the intersection.

The trail we ran on Monday was about 6 miles and included running through a wat past chanting monks, through back yards and down dirt alley's. It was a great way to see some very interesting parts of the city. The run was not tough at all, but was great fun. The people we ran with were very nice and the "hazing" at the end of the run was quite mild.

If you are in city with a HHH kennel (click on the map on the left to look up your city), I'd highly encourage checking it out. You will see some awesome parts of whatever city you are in. And, you'll get to meet some interesting people, eat some good food and drink some beer.