The honor of making the first trail of the new year is quite an honor for us here in Chiang Mai and there is normally some competition for who it is going to be. "Skidmark" has been with us since long before I got here so it was an easy choice. There was some trepidation though because he is known for being a bit of a silly-ninny and putting things into trails that are difficult such as impassable bridges or other water hazards. We all expected the worst from this guy and his cheeky grin when he was telling us about the upcoming trail at the pre-run briefing, we all expected the worst.
The above would be considered easy trails by his standards. He enjoys putting extremely steep climbs into what is meant to be an easy trail and he knows that we know this and you can hear his evil laughter as we all run away from the starting point, expecting the worst.
He pulled a switcharoo on us though because even though this was a Wimp/Rambo trail, even the Rambo trail was barely 6km and not at all hilly.
If you look at around KM number 4 you can see where there was a false trail. That is normally the case when there is a line that is reasonably long that leads to a switchback.
The Wimp trail on this one was only 3km long and this surprised a lot of people who were now thinking that they should have had a go at the Rambo trail. Normally, Rambo trails will be closer to 10km and you wont even have the option to choose it until around km number 5. To have the trails split at 2km is very rare and because he sis such a joker, I can only assume that he intentionally did the opposite of what all of us expected of him.
This sort of behavior is what makes the Hash so much fun because look at that guy: Do you really think that this is the type of person that is going to behave in a predictable way, ever? Well he got us and did a very good job at that. He makes you think he is going right, and then he goes up. There's no telling what he will do and that is part of the reason why we all love him and are very happy that he is a major part of our organization. I will admit that he is a bit of a mentor to me because I don't think I have ever met anyone his age that is as absurdly happy as he is all the time. I have never seen him have a bad day and he just seems to enjoy every minute of his life. We could all learn a lot from "Skidmark."
That was a great start to the 2025 Chiang Mai Hash House Harriers season, but I am sure there will be plenty of more memories to come. If you find yourself in Chiang Mai and would like to come and join us please feel free! Membership is not required but I can all-but-guarantee that after you go just one time, you will be hooked and want to go every week! Full schedule and all details are available here
On On!
This is great that you never quite know what to expect and it does make it more interesting for those running/walking. Characters are what make these types of groups so interesting.
⋆ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ ғᴏʀ sᴏᴜᴛʜᴇᴀsᴛ ᴀsɪᴀɴ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ ᴏɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ
⋆ sᴜʙsᴄʀɪʙᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀsᴇᴀɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴛʏ
⋆ ғᴏʟʟᴏᴡ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀsᴇᴀɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴛʏ ᴠᴏᴛɪɴɢ ᴛʀᴀɪʟ
⋆ ᴅᴇʟᴇɢᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ʟɪɴᴋs 25 ʜᴘ⇾50 ʜᴘ⇾100 ʜᴘ⇾500 ʜᴘ⇾1,000 ʜᴘ