Hares & Hashers guide

If you’re the Hare

Send us your run details on this form.
Remember to check your run details once they have been uploaded by the Hare Razer or On-Tec. Let’s know if anything needs to be added or changed.

Raffle: Hares will please bring a few raffle prizes. Anyone else may also like to contribute raffle prizes if they wish.

Public Liability Insurance certificate:
Hash Insurance 2024-25 pdf to download (runs 01/08/2024 to 31/07/2025)
Hash insurance 2025-26 pdf to download (runs 01/08/2025 to 31/07/2026)

Risk assessment form in Word: L2H3 Hash Harriers risk assessment V1
Risk assessment form as a pdf: L2H3 Hash Harriers risk assessment V1
Part-completed Risk assessment for your further editing: PART COMPLETED l2h3-hash-harriers-risk-assessment-v1

Respect for the countryside is essential

At all times we should endeavour to follow the Countryside Code.
We often run across farmland, along the coast, on moorland and along footpaths, so gates and fences, hedges, animals and crops must all be respected. If dogs are allowed they must be kept under close control at all times.

About being the Hare and the Hash Trail

The Hare will:
Check out the pub to ensure that we will be welcome.
Look at a map. A guide to distance would be a circular route in an area of two to four kilometre squares on the OS Explorer map.
Walk your planned route, and gain permission from landowners if you need to cross farmland or go through woods. Check that the footpaths shown on the map really exist on the ground. 
The best hash runs keep road running down to a minimum, so try to find a route that could include paths, tracks, fields, and woods – and as much shiggy as can be found!

The Trail

We try to lay a trail that will bring all runners back more-or-less together after an hour or so, with long and short options along the route and using numerous tactics to keep the faster runners in check.

Marking the trail
The hare is responsible for whatever substance marks the trail. Sawdust or agricultural lime are effective – but beware of the burns that lime and water can give to exposed skin. Flour is another option but can be eaten by slugs and other animals and is more easily washed away in the rain.
Single drops mark the trail, placed frequently enough to be found. If you want the pack to know you have changed direction place the drops closer together.

A circle marks a check
It’s the checks that gives the hash its character and fun, making it different from any other running recreation, and it’s the frequency of checks that makes the hash work well for all the runners, keeping the front runners busy whilst the rest of us to catch up!

From the check there is a gap in the marked trail and runners will spread out to find where it starts again. When the trail is found we call ‘on-on’ to encourage the rest of the hash to follow. But if the front runner is following a false trail, which ends in a cross, they need to go back to the check and look elsewhere.

Good and frequent checks make a good hash. A straight unchecked run of over 500 metres will spread the pack out too far. So try to plan a route with as many natural junctions as possible. After each check the trail could go in any direction, the more varied the better, even back along the old trail a short way before diverting off (a back check).
The drops for restarting the trail will be about 50 metres from the check. Beware of putting a check too near the incoming trail, which could result in a very short hash!

A loop or zigzag in the route is a tactic to take the front runners further and enabling those behind to cut corners and catch up, so can be helpful to use when possible.

A false trail is marked with a cross after a few (2/3/4) drops. This will occupy and slow up the front runners. It’s important to make the cross clear. Beware that too long a false trail may have everyone going the wrong way.

Hashing is not a race and is non-competitive (though we do see great efforts made at times to catch up and overtake). So we also use include……..

Long/short splits. The hash is for all abilities, so it is helpful for the hare to include a long and short route option, either at the start or at some point in the trail. We may include two L/S splits. The long route will be taken by the faster runners, whilst those who prefer to hash at a slower pace can choose to take the shorter route. The hares must include checks in both the long and the short route.

Nearing the point where long and short trails come back together it is helpful to mark direction arrows, so that the shorts don’t start running the long trail backwards, or the longs going the wrong way on the short trail.

Good practice is for the hares to bring up the rear, suggesting short cuts to those who may need them and making sure no one gets lost. Equally important, the hares can then also make sure that gates are closed (or left as they should be) once all runners are through.

These few guidelines may be ignored for one reason or another at times, but if there is a must it is to respect the countryside.

On On!