Hash Laying Guide

Courtesy of Big Pink .........

Hash is laid in flour, (which can be coloured with powder paint), and sometimes chalk for tarmac or pavement areas.

Look for a circular route that takes approx 50 minutes to walk. Then, loop off this trail for the runners. Think of a daisy effect.

Try and get the runners and walkers to meet at the checks. Good rule of thumb is to work on the runners doing double the distance the walkers do. 2 hour walk is a 1 hour run.

Usually 3 blobs and you are on the correct route, however, the hare may chose only to use 1 blob.

If you want to split the runners and the walkers then use an L for longs (runners) and S for shorts (walkers)

Checks are marked as circles. You can use stones and/or flour.

If you want hashers to check in all directions then just a circle for a check is sufficient. If you want only selected avenues to be checked out then you should put horns on the check (small lines pointing in the direction you want to be an option)

A cross (X) is only in use from a check. It means you are on a false trail and you should return to the check and look for the trail again in a different direction. Again, on the 3^rd blob you are on. Here you could put an L for long or S for short or nothing means Longs and Shorts on in the same direction. It is also acceptable to have 1 blob from a check. In this case no crosses (X) are required.

A check back ( an arrow pointing back the way you have come from) means that you were on the correct trail but you have gone too far and have missed a turn off in whatever direction. Runners/walkers should return back and look for a possible route off the trail they were on. These check backs are very useful for reining in the lead runners so as to try to keep all your runners together. Do not get confused between a check back and a false trail, a lot of hashers do. To reiterate a false trail is an X and only used at checks.

A question mark can be used at a junction or an area where there are several possibilities for the trail to continue on. Usually it is the first blob in any direction means you are on the correct trail. If you wanted to split the runners/walkers at this point I see no problem with putting an S in one direction and an L in another direction. Using a question mark in a good location is another way to rein in front runners.

Don’t be afraid to put plenty of checks in. Some hashers slip up and put no check for 20 minutes!!! All this does is totally demoralize the back runners.

You should put an ‘ON IN’ or ‘ON KEO’ towards the end of your run for both runners and walkers if they are on separate routes in or just one if they are following the same route.

Work on the hash taking about an hour and a quarter as a rough guide. About 8km for the runners and about 4km for the walkers, depending on how arduous the route is (hills, rough terrain etc).

If you need assistance there are plenty of ‘old hands’ who are only to happy to help in laying a trail.