SPORTS
Hua Hin Hash House Harriers
The Day of the Trailblazers Three days after St. George’s Day a conglomeration of Hua Hin Hash House Harriers were to be found, with difficulty, at a semi-secret site somewhere to the West of Hua Hin preparing for H2H3’s Run No 121. Hares for the day were Scotch Tape and the original purveyor of Itchy Hare Beans - Butt Out and
these two local worthies assailed the ears of the assemblage with words of wisdom and warning before releasing them to face the savage forces of Nature. Walkers and Runners left the base area in different directions and loitered or loped along across fairly undemanding and unprepossessing terrain before intermingling again at a point where the trail took on a bit more character. Both bunches of miscreants made their way through groves of saplings and over mildly undulating countryside, ignoring the preset checkpoints and sticking rigidly to the true path. And the true path, true to form, began to lead inexorably upwards but in a gentle and fairly languorous manner
until it came to the ultimate parting of the ways for Runners and Walkers. Suddenly for the Runners the road got steeper while the Walkers had a hopeful hiatus
where their trail dipped temporarily before confronting them with the awful reality of a few more rugged ridges. The Runners, nagged on by their spirit guide, Scotch Tape, clambered and zigzagged their way up the hillside above the monks’ village, enjoying plenty of picturesque panoramas from their precarious perches. Eventually the sweaty sloggers and the Sweaty Sock emerged on the other side of the monks’ village on to a well-known trail that has been Hashed over in both directions since time immoral. Being back on a known path raised morale immensely and the Runners fairly sped along these few hundred metres of recognisable route before being plunged into the unknown uphill struggle once again. As the trail crested and began to decline it took a
detour out to a viewpoint where a check mark had been placed on the cliff top, more in hope than in anger because the Hares did not think even a Hasher would contemplate the straight ahead option. However, the barnstorming Ballbanger was so overcome by the aerial view of his favourite landmark - the Roman Ruins - that he plummeted precipitately over the precipice and descended like an undersized avalanche to the peaceful pastures of Pedro’s Patch. Soon afterwards 69Forever had to be restrained from following this egregious example and persuaded to pursue the
rest of the Runners in regaining the paper trail and decanting downhill in a decent and decorous manner. The foot of the hill brought the fence round the town dump into sight so it was back to familiar territory once again. Meanwhile the Walkers, under the ardent aegis of Butt Out, were struggling through terra incognita on the rocky ridges on the other side of the monks’ village. As underfoot conditions improved they
were able to look up and survey the splendours of Hua Hin’s seascapes as far as the eye could see, not to mention a bird’s eye view of Immigration. Unfazed by checkpoints these mettlesome mortals meandered along in the wake of the lolloping Long Ron and drifted downhill back to the plain and unrestricted access to a direct pathway to the beer truck. And so it came to pass that the Walkers were first to the beer for a miraculous change while the Runners, happy to be back on home ground so to speak, decided to abandon the trail and make their own various ways back. All the Runners that is except the magnificent Old MacDonald who stuck to the trail through thick and thin (paper) and became the only Runner to emerge from the expected direction. These digressions by the other Runners led to them missing out on many of the sightseeing opportunities specially laid on by Butt Out and Scotch Tape for their benefit. The burgeoning blossoms, the lotus and lily pond, the graveyard of the spirit houses - all these delectable desiderata were spurned by the would-be trailblazers.
Talking of trailblazers, the bugle-blowing Slackbladder was back amongst us and he was indeed the first blazer of parts of that trail so he will probably claim that he came back on the trail that he originally set. Anyway, back the blighter was and enthusiastically immersed again in the role of GM dispensing DownDowns with great aplomb. Poor old Scotch Tape was victimised so often that he thought the name of the game was DrownDrown not DownDown. The most multitudinous DownDown of the day was Short Cutting Barstewards because it comprised all the Runners except Old MacDonald. Darkness fell just before the Hashers did and some sundry survivors sought sustenance at the Mini Farm Kitchen for the OnOnOn. Scotch Tape
Hua Hin Darts League
Current League Standings:
Division 1
Team P W D L PF -PA P ts
JW Black 6 6 0 0 52-8 12
CAT 6 6 0 0 48-12 12
Jungle Juice 6 2 1 3 28-32 5
Dicks Office A 6 2 1 3 24-36 5
Lazy Daze 6 1 2 3 23-37 4
JW Red 5 1 1 3 18-32 3
Pink Flamingo 5 1 0 4 17-33 2
Mojo 4 0 1 3 10-31 1
Division 2
Team P W D L PF -PA P ts
Butterfly Rock 6 6 0 0 42-18 12
Dicks Office B 6 4 1 1 39-21 9
Jaew 6 3 1 2 38-22 7
Oasis 5 3 1 1 31-19 7
Bamboo Grove 6 2 1 3 30-30 5
Good Friends 5 1 0 4 15-35 2
Headrock 4 0 2 2 12-28 2
Love Bar 6 0 0 6 13-47 0
Top 10 -Division 1
Name B ar S gl D bls T on’s 180s C lss P ts
Tao JWB 30 30 34 0 29 129
Dicky JWB 13 30 23 0 17 88
Golf CAT 20 18 16 0 13 69
Rune CAT 20 21 6 0 14 61
Barry JWB 16 22 5 0 16 59
Peter JJ 8 6 21 0 17 53
Noi CAT 16 11 11 0 15 53
Jim DOA 11 6 11 0 14 44
Peter Ben PF 11 9 11 1 11 44
Martin LD 8 4 14 0 13 40
Top 6 - Division 2
Name B ar S gl D bls T on’s 180s C lss P ts
Mark O 10 8 21 0 48 89
Eero BR 5 8 18 0 48 81
Jack DOB 5 5 15 0 36 63
Jai JB 6 5 16 0 38 66
Bon DOB 8 4 14 0 32 60
Mauy JB 9 4 13 0 30 59
June fixtures
Week 10 – 3rd June 2008
Division 1
Lazy Daze v JW Black
Pink Flamingo v Mojo
JW Red v Dicks Office A
Jungle Juice v CAT
Division 2
Love Bar v Jaew
Bamboo Grove v Headrock
Dicks Office B v Butterfly Rock
Good Friends v Oasis
Week 11 – 10th June 2008
Cup Quarter Finals
Week 12 – 17th June 2008
Division 1
Mojo v JW Red
JW Black v Jungle Juice
Dicks Office A v Lazy Daze
CAT v Pink Flamingo
Division 2
Butterfly Rock v Good Friends
Headrock v Dicks Office B
Jaew v Bamboo Grove
Oasis v Love Bar
Week 13 – 24th June 2008
Division 1
Jungle Juice v Lazy Daze
Mojo v Dicks Office A
Pink Flamingo v JW Black
JW Red v CAT
Division 2
Headrock v Jaew
Butterfly Rock v Love Bar
Bamboo Grove v Oasis
Dicks Office B v Good Friends
Ray's Regime
Avoid those energy drinks! This month, Ray says: “I have been asked about ‘energy’ drinks that are widely available here in all supermarkets and stores. How good are they? I would advise against them, as I have never found them to be any good. All they do is put more caffeine and sugar in your system and some may even contain
substances that are illegal for serious athletes. Some ‘energy boosting’ drinks containpseudo-ephedrine, and athletes engaged in high-level competition should be very careful, because if drug-tested, anyone using these drinks may test positive for a psycho-motor stimulant drug that could get them banned from competition for up to two years. If you are competing in a sport that includes random drug testing, don’t touch them. Remember that Linford Christie tested positive for pseudo-ephedrine (which he claimed came from ginseng tea) at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. If you are used to exercising regularly and have come on holiday in Thailand for the first time, it is important to acclimatise. The rough rule of thumb is to commence by doing only half the exercise per day that you would do in your home country. So, if you usually
run for 30 minutes a day; cut that back to 15 minutes a day for your first few days
until your body gets used to being in a very hot climate with high humidity. Most men and women can keep healthy by exercising three or four times per week; say on alternate days. But whatever you do, it is important to work up a good sweat whilst exercising. Drink regularly. Your minimum intake should be at least two litres a day, and serious sportsmen/women should drink at least three litres of cold water (without
ice) per day in this climate. Make sure that you drink before exercising, and then afterwards. Drinking water whilst exercising does not help combat dehydration, even for marathon runners as they plod through the 42.2 kilometres of the race. In humid climates, they should be well hydrated before they start the race. I cannot stress enough just how important it is to get regular health checks. Visit your doctor for a full fitness test, ncluding one for blood pressure and (if possible) one for oxygen uptake. When you first start out on a regular exercise regime, you should monitor your blood pressure before and after exercise. As you get fitter (say after one month of regular exercise) you can cut this down to just twice per week. I have found that it is important to have a blood pressure test in the morning and then again in the evening. When I was taking tablets to control my blood pressure, I found that the reading was good in the morning (after swallowing a tablet) but high several hours later when the effects of the pill had worn off. So I started monitoring my blood pressure twice a day until it levelled off. After eating, always rest for at least an
hour before exercise, and if you plan to exercise in the afternoon, work out at least two hours after eating your lunch, and keep this meal healthy: lean meat, with plenty of green vegetables for iron. The evening meal should be a salad (tuna or chicken), followed by some fresh fruit. Never eat too much; it is always a good idea to finish each meal wanting to eat just a little more. Avoid the temptation; and never eat snacks in between meals. That is one sure way to put on weight. Avoid fast-foods, such as burgers or hot dogs with French fries (chips). These have very a high calorie content that will be difficult to burn off. Leave these to children, who should have a high metabolic rate to burn away the calories - providing that they are out playing
energetic physical games and not sitting at computer screens for hours every
day, of course. Fast foods also contain a flavour-enhancer known as Monosodium
glutamate (MSG), which can be harmful if eaten too often. I do not recommend eating Thai food too often, as all Thai meals contain quite high levels of sugar; and this can
eventually lead to diabetes. I personally enjoy eating Thai food, but I know that
it not very good for me, so I limit my indulgence. On the other hand, Indian curries and Japanese food are very good for people who want to diet and exercise. More tips on diet and exercise for the over forties next month.”
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