Anyone can hare! If you are a first time hare make sure you get the help of an experienced hare to check your run. If you are an experienced hare don't be over-confident!! Hsinchu hashes have strict conditions...

1. Beer check. Every run on the Hsinchu Hash has one (or more) beer checks, ideally located somewhere scenic, halfway or 2/3s into the run. Shelter if it rains is also a good idea. Make sure you pick up the correct cooler on the day (full of beer and soft drinks) and set it before the run starts. A car is helpful for this.
2. A long and a short trail. The long trail is obviously more difficult and for the more hardened hashers. The short trail is almost always for walkers and should have obvious checks and routes your grandmother would enjoy. Either trail should take 90 minutes to complete.
3. Summer is hot, make the trail shorter and easier. No-one ever complains the trail was too easy in hot weather. Winter is the time for running.
4. Start the run from the bash place or a place close to the bash place. In a place like Hsinchu county with only 12 runs a year, there's no problem finding this kind of place. Bash places have toilets, running water and they bring more people to the bash - an important source of income for the Hsinchu hash.

1. Well before the run, preferably a month before, go to Google Maps and create a map with the location of the run start and directions from the Thai restaurant, as well as directions from the nearest freeway exit for those coming from out of town. Send the map link to the Hsinchu GM so he can advertise the run.
2. Plan to lay flour in such a way that we can find the run from the Thai restaurant! And also so we can find the way from the run to the bash place!!
3. Preferably let someone else know how to get to the run. Since hashers ride scooters and drive cars, at least one scooter rider and one driver should know the way.

1. Make the booking per table. With no way of knowing exact numbers this gives you the flexibility of adding people to a table if more people arrive.
2. The number of tables to book is anyone's guess. For example, you guess 30 people, so tell the restaurant 'more than 2 tables', so they won't go below 2 tables, but will set a few more tables if more people show up.
3. Organise a menu for about 2000 NT per table. If they have a set menu go for that, otherwise find a Taiwanese helper to organize the food. Most people don't eat a lot anyway, they just want the beer.
4. Beer should be Taiwan Beer, at 60 NT per bottle (or less).
5. Make sure to get a copy of the reservation details and bring it with you to the bash in case there are any problems. Some restaurants owners have equaled foreigners with dollars and attempted to severely rip us off in the past.

1. Find a place that is scenically impressive with one or more attractions, eg lakes, mud flats, etc. Remember people come from all over Taiwan for the Hsinchu hash, so make it worth their time to come down/up for the run.
2. Identify the start point, ie the bash place, a temple (Daoist, not Buddhist - they won't be happy), a school or even a farmhouse. Then make a loop from that point. After that, its up to your imagination.
3. Go over the route about 5 times, you'll need a few months on it. The more you go back, the more improvements you can make to the run.
4. Try to set a slow start. Runners are bloody fast, so slow them down with bottlenecks like rivers, steep bits, a difficult check, etc.
5. You may need to cut back part of the trail with a machete. Consider cutting anything that will cut you, eg razor grass, spiky branches at eye level. When cutting bamboo to ground level, cut it flat. A diagonal cut means the bamboo shoot is now capable of going through someone's foot.
6. When you think the trail is ready, time how long it takes for you to do it from start to finish. Chances are it's too long so better find that out now rather than with 100 runners behind you.

1. A month before the run tell us where the run is, with descriptive words to help us imagine how great it's going to be. This will let the GM know what to write when he advertises the run.
2. Don't pull out of a run. This really screws everyone up. If you really really really can't do it, then find someone to replace you.
3. Don't leave the run until the last moment. The more time you put in, the better it is. If you need inspiration hash members usually have ideas on where to lay a run. Ask around.

1. The Hsinchu hash is live, which means the hare takes off in front of everyone and sets the trail with people chasing him/her. It's fun, and there's a real chance you may get caught. If you are not a particularly fast runner, splitting the run with co-hares is fine. No you can't lay the trail the night before.
2. Before the run buy flour, cheapest from a supermarket. You also need a box of chalk. Shredded paper if it looks like its going to rain. Impossible though, because 'it never rains on the Hsinchu Hash!!!'
3. A good idea is to leave bags of flour etc around the trail instead of taking all the flour with you from the start.
4. 3 kg of flour for every 20 minutes of trail. So about 12 bags. Bring extra and stash it, running out of flour during the run is no fun.
5. Plastic bags full of flour rip and the flour starts to leak out. Try to use fairly strong bags. Another option is to fill a drinks bottle with flour so you can just squirt the flour out. Less messy that way.
6. Mark with arrows when you can, they show which way to go.

The most commonly experienced problem with marking is unclear turn marks. All turns should be marked with a large sweep of flour / paper that leaves no doubt as to which direction the trail leads. An "arrow head" at the leading end of the flour / paper mark will help to avoid confusion.

On runs that begin and end at the same place i.e. A to A runs, the Hares should make sure that the runners do not mistake the out and the in trails. This is a problem when checks set on the "out" trail are close to the "in" trail. Clear marking of the "in" trail with the word IN where it comes close to the out trail will avoid a "cross over".

In general 6-8 checks are about right for a 75 minute run, although the terrain / Hares will dictate the actual number as every run is different.

A check mark is either a circle with a dot in the centre or a circle with a cross in it (the Hsinchu Hash uses the circle with a cross almost exclusively). A good place to set a check is where paths diverge i.e. giving you a number of directions to choose from. After setting the check the Hares should begin marking again within 100 meters of the check.

Back tracks can be laid by placing 3 solid lines or the letters CB in flour / chalk across the trail to indicate a "back track". They can be placed on any part of the trail but obviously it is not a good idea to use them close to the run start and finish points.

After setting a back track the correct trail should start within 100 meters back from the end of the back track trail. Marking for the correct trail must run in a different direction from the back track trail.

There is no limit to the number of back tracks that can be set although common sense should be exercised.

When finishing the Hares should clearly mark "On In" with flour / chalk on the trail near the end of the run, but after the last check. The "On In" mark should usually be within 500m of the finish.