Oslo HHH Information for hares

PREPARING FOR THE RUN

THE HARES' TASKS.

The hares are responsible for choosing the run location, setting the trail and arranging the supply of beer/drinks and some light food.

There should be two hares (hare and co-hare) for each run. This both spreads the workload and makes it more enjoyable. If you haven't hared before, try to get an experienced hare as co-hare or advisor. In appreciation of their efforts, the hares don't pay run fees on their own run.

RUN LOCATION.

Choose a run location which is easily accessible by both car and public transport (max 20 minutes – 1.5 km – walk from the nearest bus/tram/T-bane stop).

For Monday (summer) runs, try to make use of the countless tracks and footpaths in the countryside and forests around Oslo. The run could start/finish at one of the many car parks at the edge of the forest. If you don't have a car and want to set the run away from home, ask another hasher for help with transport of beer/food. If setting the run from a central home location, try to minimise the amount of running on asphalt. There are several large green areas not far from the centre (Bygdøy, Frognerparken, Tøyenparken, Ekeberg).

For Saturday (winter) runs, please provide an indoor location for after the run.

INFORMATION TO THE ON-SEC.

The following information must be communicated to the On-Sec minimum one week before your run.

Email to .

Run number, date, and starting time (18.30 is standard on Mondays, 14.30 on Saturdays).
Hares’ names and telephone numbers.
Run location and the address.
Detailed instructions on how to get there
By public transport: NOTE—make sure that the arrival time to the start allows enough time for everyone to pay hash cash before the 18.30/14.30 start time. Allow 15 minutes ahead of the start time.
By driving: NOTE—not all OH3 members have GPS so driving directions need to be detailed.
Whether the trail(s) are suitable for push-chairs (strollers) or not.
Dogs welcome?
Any other info which may be useful e.g. showers, sauna, party afterwards, what to bring, etc.
Any non-standard run fees as agreed with the mismanagement (to cover extra costs for food, overnight stays, special occasions etc).
Your hash theme such as a birthday celebration or a holiday, if any.
Do you have graphics or photos to use to help promote your run? If yes, do not embed the images into a Word .docx, a .pdf, or into any other document. Attach each as a separate image and email to "". File formats .jpg or .gif or .png will work. A higher resolution with a larger file size will result in better reproduction of your images.

TRAILS.

There should be one trail of approx 8 km for runners and one trail of approx 5 km for walkers. These lengths should enable the runners and walkers to finish at roughly the same time. The ideal is a single long trail with marked short-cuts for the walkers, but this is often difficult to achieve. If you want to exhaust the Front-runners, add an optional "ball-breaker" loop towards the end of the run.

If it will get dark soon after the run starts, adjust the length of the trails to ensure that everybody can get back before it gets dark. Remember that each beer/drink stop will take about 10 minutes.

The trail shouldn't normally exceed ca 1.5 hours. You can choose to make longer trail at some special occasions, but then you should clearly state it in the trail info! Also, if you do that, please keep in mind that walkers' trail and drink stops should be synchronized, so that one group doesn't have to wait for the other for too long. The longer the trail, the more difficult it is to achieve it.

Scout and plan the trails in advance to make a good run and avoid unpleasant surprises when you're marking the trail. Pick routes with lots of possibilities for checks on the runners' trail. Any detailed maps, especially orienteering maps, are helpful. The maps on finn.no show many (but certainly not all) footpaths and tracks when zoomed in to show detail.

Avoid sensitive areas like private gardens and cemeteries (and areas with lots of traffic too, because the noise makes it difficult for the hounds to hear the "On On" calls).

HOW TO MARK THE TRAIL.

Reckon to use 2.5 - 4 hours to set the runners' trail, assuming you walk while doing it. This includes the time needed to mark false trails etc. It will take approx 1 – 1.5 hours to mark the walkers' trail (i.e., the time needed to walk round it). To avoid the markings being disrupted by the weather or other people, it's best to mark the trail on the afternoon/evening before the run, or on the actual day.

The trail is normally marked with dots of sawdust, obtainable from supermarkets (most Rimi and Coops), timber yards or pet shops (expensive). Flour can also be used, and chalk marks are sometimes used in urban areas where there's a risk that sawdust or flour markings might be interfered with. Three 1kg bags of sawdust or two big (2,5 kg) bags of flour should be enough to set the two trails. To avoid confusion, some hares mark the runners' trail with sawdust and the walkers' trail with flour.

The dots should be laid at 10 to 50 m intervals, depending on the terrain. Except for the dots immediately after the checks on runners' and combined trails, the next dot should be visible from the current dot, especially when the trail doesn't follow an obvious path.
On combined trails, use arrows with "W" and "R" to show where walkers and runners should split.
If you've included an optional ball-breaker loop, use an arrow with "BB" where it starts.
Checks and back-checks are used to help to keep the runners together. A properly laid trail should have all runners arriving at the finish nearly together. N.B. There should be no checks or back-checks on walkers' trails (or the walkers' short-cuts on combined trails).
Checks are marked with a circle. The distance between checks is typically 400 m or less. Avoid stretches longer than 800 m because the pack will get too separated. Checks should be placed where there are several choices of paths to continue. The more choices there are, the better.

The first three dots leading out of the check should not be visible from the check or from each other. The first dot should be placed maximum 100 m away from the check.
False trails from the check are a good way to mislead the front-runners. They can be "closed" (one or two dots followed by an X) or left "open" (one or two dots and then nothing). On urban runs, all false trails should be closed. False trails can start a bit nearer to the check than the correct trail.
"Back checks" can be used anywhere along the trail to slow down the front-runners. A back check is indicated by an X, optionally together with a number. An X alone tells the runners to go back to the last check or obvious alternative path, while e.g. X5 tells the runners to turn round and go back 5 dots, where they should search to find where the trail continues.
Regroups (RG), can be used if the pack needs to come together again, e.g. after a long, hard climb.
Use arrows if necessary to show the correct direction.
Beer (B) and/or drink (D) stops should be towards the end of the run. Provide water too in warm weather. Utilise any nice location, view-point, maybe another Hasher’s house/garage in the winter.

BEER.

It is the hares' responsibility to purchase enough beer and other drinks for the run. You should buy both pilsner beer and non-alcoholic beer (Munkys) for the drivers. The number of hashers on a run varies considerably but the average numbers are 18 Pils / 13 Munky drinkers on Saturday (winter) runs and 23 Pils /17 Munkies on Monday (summer) runs. You should supply at least 3 pilsners of 3 x 0.5 litres (0.33 litre is more expensive, so try to avoid) for each of the drinkers and 3 Munkies for each of the non-drinkers. It’s better to have too much than too little, and you can always sell the excess to the next hare.

Beer is the Hash's major expense, so please buy wisely. Pokal and Seidel beers are the cheapest but not appreciated by many. Borg beer meets with general approval and is significantly cheaper than Tuborg and Ringnes. Canned beer is more expensive than bottles, so please avoid cans (except maybe for beer stops where the beers must be carried). Non-alcoholic beers (Munkholm, Uten, Clausthaler, Null, etc) are, unlike real beer, frequently on offer. They all taste similar, so please shop around for the best buy.

Most beers are displayed in 6-packs. Handling is easier (especially when returning the empties) if you ask for crates (deposit kr 16,-) when buying the beers. Four 6-packs fit nicely into a crate.

FOOD. Kr. 25 per person limit.

It is also the hares' responsibility to provide some light food. This does not have to be elaborate, e.g. sandwiches in summer and a good hot soup/stew and bread in winter are fine. Try to keep within kr. 20,- per person in food expenses. Claims in excess of this must be supported by receipts. If you plan to exceed kr. 25,- per person, please get mismanagement approval beforehand. Good food is always appreciated and for special occasions, we can if necessary increase the run fee.

ON THE DAY OF THE RUN

THE MUG BAG.

The Mug Bag contains the mugs used for the down-downs, a number of items used by the Religious Advisor, and the HHH sign. (And probably a few other things, as well.) Make sure that you have obtained the bag from last week's hares, or have arranged that they will bring it with them.

MARKING THE TRAIL.

If you didn't do so the previous afternoon/evening, mark the trail. Give yourself enough time (page 1, item 5) and include a safety margin so that you're sure to get back to the venue before the hashers start to arrive. (And you'll probably want to have time to eat something before you go out on the trail again.)

BEFORE THE HASHERS ARRIVE.

Hang up the HHH sign (which should be in the Mug Bag) outside the venue. If the sign hasn't arrived yet or is missing, improvise by writing HHH in sawdust/flour/chalk.

AT THE START.

Please ensure that secure storage will be available for hashers to place their bags, etc while they're running. If running from the hares' house/flat, this is easy. At other locations, please ensure that you the hares or some of the hounds will have enough space in one or more of the cars.

As the hashers arrive, Hash Cash or another member of the mismanagement will take care of registering names and collecting run fees. At the circle just before the run starts, explain how many trails there are, and how they are marked. This is important if there are first-time runners and/or visiting runners present (as there usually are).

Make sure that you have a small bag of sawdust and/or flour with you to supplement the trail markings if necessary. If the beer for the beer stop has been deposited in a car, make sure you've got the keys with you. (They have been forgotten in the past!) If you've included your mobile phone number in the run info, remember to take the phone with you.

ON THE RUN.

One of the hares should always "sweep" the pack, i.e. run at the back of the pack and try to ensure that no-one gets left behind. This is especially important in little-known areas of the countryside and on urban runs where there's lots of traffic noise.

As the run progresses, the hares should ensure that each check is clearly "opened", i.e. that the direction of the correct onward trail is clearly indicated. This is important, as it enables any runners who've got left behind to catch up with the pack without having to "solve" the checks alone. The standard way to open a check is to kick out the part of the circle that points towards the correct trail, but it's often helpful to use some of the carried sawdust/flour to add some new dots as well.

AT THE BEER/DRINK STOP.

If the beer/drink stop is at a car, one of the hares should try to get there together with the front-runners so that they don't have to wait unnecessarily long before they can quench their thirsts. As everyone leaves after the beer/stop, the hares should check to see that there's no rubbish left lying around.

AT THE END OF THE RUN.

One of the hares should try to get back to the start together with the first runners, to unlock the car/house/flat so that the runners have quick access to their clothes and, more importantly, to the beer.

If the food requires further preparation or heating, it's best to start this immediately: It's surprising how long it takes to heat up a 15-litre saucepan of soup/stew.

If you don't have enough normal plates and cutlery, the hash will refund the cost of disposable items. There is a tremendous variation in prices, so shop wisely. Look for undecorated, solid items. "Nille", "Staples", "Clas Ohlson" and "Biltema" are usually much cheaper than supermarkets.

Provide a prominently-displayed receptacle (there should be one in the Mug Bag) for hashers to pay for beers/Munkies they consume over the included allowance of 3 beers including those drunk at the beer stop(s)). The price per bottle is 25 kr. for 0.33-litre beer, 30 kr. for 0.5-litre beer and 10 kr. for Munky.

NOTE: Price for beer in excess of 3 Pils (3 x 0.5 l) or 3 Munkies per person, including those drunk at the beer stop(s), is now kr. 30 for each 0.5 L beer, (kr. 25 or each 0.33L beer) and kr. 10 per Munky.