DH3: Hare Guidelines

hare guidelines...

Being a hare is not a difficult or frightening task but there are some basic guidelines to follow. If you are a virgin hare, then try and team up with an experienced hasher to learn the ropes. Some of the finer points of trail setting will only come with experience.

Step 1

pick the location

It should be out of sight from any nearby main roads or houses and have plenty of space for parking and the Circle.
If it has not been used recently then please check with either Little Mo or SAS. These are the guys who usually end up having to sort the mess if a foolish location is selected.
Mark the location from the nearest main road. If it’s not possible for 2WD vehicles to get all the way, indicate where these should park.

Step 2

send a map

It must be sent to the Webmeister by the Tuesday before the run to make sure there is time to publish it on the website. This is particularly important for any visiting hashers.
It should include written directions and the start time. Also provide your mobile phone number for the large number of directionally challenged hashers.

Step 3

set the trail

This will essentially consist of a loop, taking around 45 minutes for the runners to complete. As a rough guide, it will take around 2-3 hours to set.
Allow for the walkers by providing opportunities to short-cut the trail.
Mark the trail with blobs of flour, painted straws, chalk, or small paint-spray marks. The normal space between trail markings should be about 10 paces.
Use plenty of checks and falsies. These cunning traps allow the slow, overweight, unfit and/or generally infirmed runners to catch up. A good trail is one in which the slowest and fastest runner finish within a few minutes of each other.
A check is marked with a circle and a falsie ends in a circle with a cross inside. Don't paint checks or falsies on walls, paving etc.
You can lay up to 3 falsies from each check, as well as the real trail, but keep them to about 400m.
There should be no more than 10 minutes running between checks or falsies to try and keep the pack together. A 45 minute trail should therefore include 4-6 checks or falsies.
The first marking of the real trail should be some 80 paces or so after a check. Falsies can start a little closer. Most beginners make the mistake of starting the new trail too close to the check, making it too easy to find. Taking longer to find the new trail gives the slower runners a chance to catch up.
Reasonable reimbursents (upon receipts) will be made for any paint, flour or straws used for trail markings. Make sure any surplus is passed to the next Hares or the Hare Raiser.

Step 4

organise some food

Up to 450 AED will be reimbursed for food upon presentation of receipts.
There are large hash pots and/or a hash BBQ available if required.
There are one or two veges; they will contact you if they need vegetarian food to be provided.
Food should be ready immediately after the Circle finishes.

Step 5

make sure the usual paraphernalia arrives

The Hares are responsible for bringing the hash tables, mugs and wood.
If for some reason a fire is not possible, then suitable lighting must be provided.
Ice, liquid "refreshments", softies and water are the responsibility of others, not the Hares. Those responsible don’t necessarily have to bring the items each week but they must make sure that the items appear on the night of the run.
Consider the need for plastic plates, eating/serving utensils, bin bags for rubbish and a shovel for forming the cooking fire.

Step 6

conduct the run

Wear your Hare T-shirt (contact Haberdasher if you don’t already have one).
Be prepared to brief the pack before the run starts. Include any safety hazards and an explanation of the trail markings (for newcomers and visitors).
Arrange for a lead Hare to keep close to the front of the pack, and a sweep Hare to follow at the back, ensuring hashers don’t get lost.
The sweep Hare should also carry chalk, or similar, to mark the checks through once the pack has moved on. This allows any stragglers or late-comers to pick up the trail.
The trail should be designed to keep the pack together. If, however,there is an obvious problem and the pack is splitting up or searching in vain for the real trail, call "On-on!" and get them back on track.

Step 7

arrange the circle & clean up the site

Get the fire started, arrange the tables, mugs and ice, and volunteer someone to pour the down-downs.
Make sure that all rubbish is removed at the end of the night and collect any signs left on the road.
If there is any hash paraphernalia such as tables, mugs or bins remaining then these also need to be collected.
Clean the tables and pots before passing onto the next Hares.

In return for all of this, the lead Hare and up to two nominated accomplices will be exempt from paying the run fee!