So you’ve volunteered to be a hare, set a run and play host to the Lagos Hash House Harriers for an evening. Scary isn’t it (unless you’re used to playing to the public)? What will you be expected to do? Where do you get the beer? How do you cool it? How do you take care of catering? And, the main feature - how do you set a good trail?

These are just a few of questions that will be answered in this guide. It’s not going to be infallible however and Mismanagement is always available to help. It will assist you in avoiding common goof-ups, though sometimes you’ve just got to use your own initiative. We like to ‘reward’ a hare for doing good, not screwing up, however similar the reward may be!

Beer is the most important factor in the Hash. Keep this in mind. The heritage of the Hash is a drinking club with a running problem. (This does not exclude the exceptional teetotaller from joining and having fun). If you don’t get the beer temperature right you are sure to be rewarded. Warm beer is going to make a lot of Hashers unhappy, including yourself. Too cold, well, different schools of thought here but think about it, you’re no doubt going to be down-downing it!

One of the purposes of this revised Hash Hare guide is to outline the latest innovations that Mismanagement have arranged for you. These take care of beer and ice supply and also suggest food caterers if you can’t prepare food yourself. Thus all a Hare has to do is provide a venue; ice the drinks down, set a trail and host a fun filled evening. The arrangements for food and drink must be made with the appropriate person at least a week in advance & preferably earlier than this, with a confirmation closer to the date.

Feeding the Pack
The Hare can cater for the Hash directly though not many individuals will have either the means or desire to do so. Alternatively, the Hare can select a caterer of his choice. The Hash provides a fixed sum for food purchase. Contact Hash Cash for details. Should a really special meal be required then the extra cost must be borne by the Hare. Popular proven caterers that the Hash has used are:

Supply of Ice, Barrels, Plates, Cutlery & Mugs
Delivery should be discussed with Hash Ice. It’s the Hare's responsibility to ensure all plates, cutlery and pots are thoroughly washed and ready for collection on the Tuesday following the Hash.

Beer & Soft Drinks
Beer is supplied by Hash Beer. Delivery to the venue will be on Monday at around 3 p.m. Please ensure someone is on hand to receive the beer and commence icing it down - this is the Hare’s duty. Quantity delivered will be 10 cases Star, 10 Gulder & 5 cases of Soft Drinks. Collection of empties and remaining beer will be on Tuesday a.m. Many of the pack prefer to drink water at a Beer Stop or when they first return to the venue. The Hare should supply and chill a carton of large bottles, or equivalent, of spring water.

Cooling Beer
O. K., you’ve got Beer, ice and barrels. How do you cool it to the optimum temperature? This can be a bit of black art and there are several schools of thought depending upon what spare refrigeration capacity you have available.

No refrigeration?
The old favorite works best. Warm beer inter-layered with broken ice in barrels does the job. You need plenty of ice. The beer needs to be in the barrels & iced down by 4 p.m., at the latest, on the days of the Hash. The largish lumps of ice that you will most likely receive will need smashing - thus assuring good contact with the beer and minimizing air space in the barrels. Water can be added but remember, warm water itself has to be chilled by the ice thawing out. Too much water will leave you with warm beer. Don’t forget to put the lids on the barrels. The same general procedures go for soft drinks and water. Also, don’t forget to reserve several large lumps of ice for ‘icing’s within the circle. Hopefully the Hare won’t be sat on one for not following these instructions.

Be careful bottles aren’t broken while icing the beer. If they are, empty the barrel, remove the broken glass and start again. ‘LH3’ is a Safety First Hash!

Circle Up
When ‘Circle Up’ or ‘Form a Circle’ is called no more beer is to be served from the bar. Unless the bar area can be kept secure, by steward or security staff, move all the beer to the center of the circle. If the bar area is secure, fill a crate with 50/50 cold Star and Gulder and move that to the center of the circle. This will be used for serving the circle and should be replenished from the bar with cold beer as necessary. It is the responsibility of the Hare(s) to serve beer to the Hashers around the circle. Mismanagement will delegate one or more Hashers to assist in this task. Stewards are not allowed in the circle except to make a delivery from the bar. While rotating around the circle with a bottle of Star in one hand and a bottle of Gulder in the other looking for thirsty ones, the Hare should note that a Hasher with a Mug upside down on his head is in need of immediate beer. Beer must be drunk from mugs only. Hashers must not drink from bottles.

Beer Stops
The Lagos Hash permits beer stops but unless a special event does not provide beer for them. Cans of beer are more popular than bottles at beer stops but even more popular with many is water or/and soft drinks. Cut oranges go down well, or a container of diluted iced squash. If it’s a T shirt run, the beer stop can be the hand-out point, thus making sure that Hashers have had to participate to receive the reward. Try and set the beer stop between 70 – 75% into a run. Also, make it at a point so that if it’s getting late, those that are beat can easily make it home by short cutting. Don’t let the Pack linger at a stop. Drink, make sure everyone’s caught up and move them out. There are exceptions to every rule though and you may attend Hash’s where more time is spent beer stopping than running!

The Run
You must be aware of the fundamentals of a Hash Trail. It is not a race! Marathon runs are positively not required! A well-designed trail offers 50 minutes or so of exercise to participants ranging from athletes to jog/walkers. The aim is to have the whole pack home within a maximum of ten minutes between first and last. The closer together the Pack comes home, the better you’ve done.

How is the foregoing achieved?
By a system of trail marks, chalk in the city and paper in the bush. These marks indicate ‘On’s, ‘Checks’ ‘On-On’s and ‘Check-Backs’. These will be described in detail shortly, but briefly describing city running, an ‘On’ is a chalked arrow marking the route direction. A ‘Check’ is a mark, usually placed at some form of road junction. It gives the pack an opportunity to catch up on the ‘F.R.B’s. From the junction the trail could be in any direction except the direction you’ve come from. At this point the faster runners/serious Hashers will separate and check out the alternatives until a mark indicating ‘On-On’ is found. The ‘On-On’ call will go out and the pack will follow in the direction of the ‘On-On’. Obviously some ‘F.R.B.’s will have ventured completely in the wrong direction and will have lots of catching up to do.

A ‘Check-Back’ is a mark that indicates some form of reversal of direction. i.e. back straight, back and left or back and right one or more junctions. Clearly, the front runners will be the first to find these marks and thus when the pack reverses direction they will initially be at the rear. Plenty of ‘Check-backs’ are needed to hold a pack together. Make the ‘F.R.B.’s work. They love it!

One rule to remember is: Except when ‘Checking-Back’ you must set the run so the pack does not run along any portion of the trail a second time, or at least, not for any distance. Crossing a trail already run over at right angles is permitted. Don’t spoil what could be an interesting trail by never deviating from the rules slightly.

How much chalk & where?
‘Ons’ as frequently as you like, generally at not more that 50 meter intervals depending upon what objects there are to clearly mark upon.

‘Checks’ & ‘Check Backs’ - no hard and fixed rules but on a survey of a dozen recent Hashes, ‘Check Backs’ ranged between 5 & 7 while ‘Checks’ ranged between 3 & 5. Make sure you have sufficient ‘Check Backs’ of sufficient length or the ‘F.R.B.’s will eat your trail.

Generally, the idea is not to hide the trail by trickery and anyone reasonably observant should spot it. ‘On’ marks that are not too clear or could be taken as being ambiguous should be reinforced by extra marking as soon as a convenient location can be found.

Chalking should always be marked on the left of the trail. This is where the pack should be running, facing the oncoming traffic! (Who knows where traffic’s coming from in Lagos? Just be careful and keep your eyes and ears open!) Chalking is generally done approximately between knee and shoulder height of the average Hasher on telephone & electrical poles, road signs or whatever other permanent structure is available. Sometimes the only surface usable is the edge of the footpath. The chalk marks can either be marked facing the oncoming runners or on the side of the pole facing the trail. In the case of a divided highway, where the hare does not wish the trail to cross but run along it for some distance, assuming it is safe to do so, the trail can be marked on the right. ‘Run on the Right’ should be chalked up at the start of a stretch like this. It is also common practice to chalk up ‘On Over’ where the trail crosses a divided highway. Chalk marks must be written in an unambiguous manner as possible. White or yellow are the preferred colours, being most visible at dusk, or later! Pink chalk will earn you a reward in the Circle.

Trail Markings:
There can be a substantial difference in trail marks used by other Hashes. Click this link to see the Lagos H3 trail marks. First time Hare anywhere, or experienced Hasher first time ‘Haring’ in Lagos should memorize these marks and use them correctly. Dire penalties exist for screwing up a good run by poor chalking.

N. B. While setting a run you will note many hash marks from previous trails (like these). Thus your trail must be clearly date marked, or marked with your initials, so it’s not your fault when the pack become confused. You must advise the pack of the day’s markings at the ‘On Out’.

Tips for a Good Trail
Never underestimate how fast the ‘F.R.B’s are. They are very fast and will find your ‘Checks’ and ‘Check Backs’ much faster than you set them. If they can leave the pack far behind them some of them will. They are Bastards of course. ‘F.R.B’s are the only people who won’t complain if they get some long ‘Check Backs’, so give them to them.

Try to vary the scenery. A really well laid Hash in street after street is still boring. Use drains, sand & a bit of bush if you can find it. Find somewhere new, if possible.

Try to set a really meandering trail with Check Backs to the last, avoiding a long straight run in. A trail should be set that wherever possible the aged, infirm, drunks, wimps and physically disadvantaged ones can take an easy way home if needs be.

If you’ve got the means to do it, on a run that’s taken longer than you think and its getting dark, send out a vehicular sweeper to bring home the lost and lame.

Beware of rain, it can really make a mess of your chalking. If you set the trail early, go around it again just before the run and touch up any missing marks. It does pay to double up on crucial marks anyway. You can use a vehicle for touching up. Don’t get caught!

Don’t get so clever with your chalking that the pack finds a endless loop or on your ‘On In’ route. (Just did that myself)!! Use a ‘Check Back’ mark or a ‘Wrong Way’ mark at the end of a false trail from a ‘Check’ if it otherwise may lead where you don’t want the pack to go.

Unsure how long the Pack will take for your trail. Run it yourself, including all ‘Check Backs’. Compare the time with your average Monday.

Finally, we don’t want to see you on the run. We want to see you at the On In, pouring beer and handing out T-Shirts!

The foregoing are the LH3 fundamentals of setting a Hash. So all you Hares have to do now is find a venue, set a trail, ice the drinks down, be good hosts and enjoy yourselves.

‘Stumpy Bill’ - June 21^st 2000