Guidelines for a successful trail

Make sure your trail area was not used recently for a hash, as you may well run into old trail markings. This is sure to cause pack confusion and trail chaos.

2. Pick your co-hare(s)

It is much more fun if you have more than one hare! It is often easier and quicker to set the trail, and also means that during the hash itself one of you can stay at or near the back of the pack to sweep. First-time hares must have an experienced co-hare. Longtime hashers may be up for setting a solo trail, but hash cash is free for up to two hares… so why not set trail with a friend?

3. Recce your trail

Recce the trail, especially if you do not know the area! That means physically scoping out the intended trail and deciding where it will go in – ahead of the run, and best not on the same day you are hare.

The most important decision to make in recceing a trail is which direction you will take from the start (the out trail) and how you will return to the start (the in trail). The two should be distinct.

4. Inform the Beer Meister and Hare Raiser

The first people who need to know about your trail location are:

• Your Beer Meister: S/he will reach out to confirm where your beer stop is in the weeks ahead of your trail, so make sure you keep in mind a feasible place for her/him to park.

• Hare Raiser: Send her/him the approximative starting area by e-mail one month ahead to avoid two consecutive trails using the same area. The week before your hash, send the Hash Lash your precise starting point and relevant details (see below). Hash Lash will then email details to the full BMPH3 group.

Trail location details:

• Public transport: mention if the starting point is close to a metro/bus/train station. If yes, provide line number, name of the stop and closest time of arrival. Remember to check if there is a reliable Sunday service!

• Driving directions: if the run is outside, Brussels provide the link via Google maps and driving time, taking into account planned roadwork if known.

5. Plan your trail

A typical BMPH3 hash trail is 10k for runners and 5k for walkers, taking between 60-120 minutes pending terrain. It must have one beer stop (mandatory!), and you can consider if you want to add shot stops or other fun elements. Consider if you'll need to provide short cuts, for example, if there are many visitors in town or we have injured/slower runners, to help everyone get to the beer stop at roughly the same time. More on short cut options below!

You will need a minimum of 6 kilos/bags of flour to lay the trail. Mixing white flour with coloured builder's chalk can help if you need more distinction for marks, especially in cases of snow or if hashing in urban areas. Pavement chalk can also work but won't survive humidity.

Perhaps you have done some digital trail scouting in advance, but remember it is still a good idea for all hares to have a map of the area with them when setting the trail. Allow at least 2-3 hours to set your runners' and walkers' trails.

6. Set your trail

If you are laying trail on the day of your hash, give yourself enough time. If you are laying trail a day in advance, make sure you keep an eye on the weather! Brussels climate is known to wipe out the best of trail intentions.

For BMPH3 trails, the markings are always on the left. The only exception to this is for reasons of safety. When setting trail, you should lay flour or put chalk about every 20 meters or so—keep in mind how you will mark all decision points.

The signs used in setting the trail are blobs of flour and single barbed arrows (↾, right handed to avoid confusion with the number one) in flour or a circle (O) for a check, a cross (X) for a false trail, a check back and a number (CB#) indicates how many markings the hashers have to go back to find trail again, and 'ON INN' to indicate that the trail is coming to an end. You may also indicate 'Beer Near' (BN) when you are close to the beer stop.

7. Don't forget the checks

It's just not a trail without checks. From a check point, hashers need to find two blobs or arrows to be on trail. Feel free to stand back and let the pack check it out.

Special checks:

• Ladies' checks indicated by a circle with a dot in it (⊙) may only be done by harriettes. Non-harriettes have to wait until the harriettes find the trail to move forward. (Some non-harriettes are too impatient for this, but they are always ratted out and always rewarded in the same time honoured way).

• Hash View (HV) indicates there is something worth looking at just ahead. Once the pack has admired the view, they can move on. If the HV is in a circle and thus a check, the pack must find true trail first.

• Fish Hook with a number(↷#) tells the first # hashers to arrive at this marking to run back to the back of the pack, before they may continue in the right direction again.

When checking, the hashers will call out 'Checking one!' when one blob or arrow is found, and 'On on!' when a second blob or arrow is found. Blobs or arrows may lead to true trail, an X (false) after all, or nothing at all, if you are a tricky hare.

8. About those falses…

The objective of false trails is to keep the pack together. They give the front runners more trail to do, while allowing the back runners to catch up. As hare, you can mark a false trail wherever you like and as often as you like, but note that the further you go from a check, the more likely you are to keep the pack together. Expect down downs for your efforts.

Make sure the X is clearly marked so that the pack sees it, otherwise you will be chasing hashers in every direction—yet tricky hares put the X in such a way that it cannot be seen from far away. Once the true trail has been found, it is a good idea to mark the direction in which the true trail goes from the check.

• False trails from checks: Keep in mind that if you put a false trail too near the check point, front runners will find them more quickly—giving the back of the pack less time to catch up.

• False trails not from checks: You may also decide to lay a false trail that is far away from any check – for example, because you screwed up while laying trail and need to ensure the pack does not go down the wrong path. If a hasher finds an X, they need to turn around, double back on trail and find other directions in which the trail might have gone. This is most frequently, but not exclusively, the last decision point.

9. Get ready for chalk talk (finally!)

After the GM calls the hash together for chalk talk, you'll be brought in to give an overview of what to expect on trail. Get excited to walk the pack through your marks, any watch outs or interesting features of trail.

10. The (near) end: beer stop!

Every hasher rejoices at the BN (beer near) and BS (beer stop) marks! The beer stop should occur close to where the hash will circle, about 15' walk to the end of trail. Your Beer Meister will park at the beer stop in advance of trail starting, and will move the precious cargo to the circle location after the full pack has had a beer. Note you will need to identify a suitable location where the beer car can be safely and legally parked as part of planning your trail.

Occasionally, the GM may allow the beer stop to be at a bar, with the tab covered on the day by Hash Cash. This needs to be requested in advance. Don't forget to coordinate directly with the bar too.

11. On After

Sometimes hashers just can't get enough. After a glorious trail and rowdy circle, they might want to keep the party going at a nearby establishment. The hare can suggest a spot in advance, or this can be a decision made by those eager once circle closes. May the hash get a piece… of pizza?

Wow, you've made it this far! Congrats, there's a beer at the next hash with your name on it. Now keep reading for a few more fun considerations for your trail.

12. Short cuts and chicken & bull trails

BMPH3 has hashers of all speeds. To keep the running pack reasonably together, you may consider:

• Short cuts: Identify a point where back markers can take a short cut, indicated to them in advance. Do not mark the short cut. The rest of the pack will follow true trail, and eventually all should come back together again.

• Chicken and Bull trails: Rather than a short cut, trail can split into two different, marked longer and shorter options, which merge again before the beer stop. Tell the pack at chalk talk that there is a C for chickens (the shorter trail) and a B for bulls (the longer trail). This is best executed by more than one hare.

13. Exceptional trails for exceptional hares

• A to B runs: Exceptionally, trail may start and finish in different locations – but only if this is arranged with and approved in advance by Mismanagement.

• Live haring: While live haring is not typical for BMPH3, it is not unheard of either. Maybe a hare needed to be picked on the spot, maybe a planned hare had unexpected obligations outside of the hash (rude), maybe an experienced hare wants to spice things up. If this option is for you, come prepared with enough bottles of flour to lay your trail AND for the pack to sweep behind you. It is a good idea to inform Hash Lash if you are going live, so Mismanagement can assist you on sweeper and beer logistics.

You are STILL reading??? Here is the final recap:

• Bring enough flour

• Give yourself enough time to recce and set trail

• Make sure your trail does not cross over itself

• Drink more beer

[Input with thanks from his grace Mick Mac, duke of BMPH3, Yark Sucker, Sir Higgins, and Sandy Syphilis]