Chalk Talk - The Safe Haven for Bergen Hash House Harriers
Chalk Talk
- During winters some hares have used ketchup, chocolate powder, red fruit juice or different types of flour
- After an anthrax scare in 2001, the police banned the use of flour and gave us spray cans with red paint!
- When the trail was set some days in advance, multi-coloured wool has been used to mark the trail
THE TRAIL
Example of a typical BH3 trail.
ON ON
Blobs of flour are used to mark the trail. We do not adhear to the practice of three blobs and you are on.
ARROW
If the hare(s) think the pack will consist of BB's, arrows can be used to guide the pack in the right direction.
CHECK AND WAIT
The pack check and wait until everyone has arrived and must wait until the hare(s) have given the signal ('Check it out') before continuing.
After run #1222 the hare's neighbour posted an interpretation of the sign on Facebook: 'Nothing of value in the house i.e. not worth to burgle'.
CHECK AND GO
The pack will check in different directions for the continuing trail but without waiting for the whole pack to gather. Variations of the sign includes blobs of flour in the circle where the corresponding number of Hashers must wait at the 'check and go' until the last Hasher in the pack has passed by.
DRINK STOP
Need I say more?
'DS' (drink stop) or 'BS' (beer stop) are sometimes used instead of a D.
SING STOP
The pack gathers and under the guidance of either the GM or RA, will endeavour to sing a rousing Hash song (usually 'Father Abraham' or 'Lion Hunt').
CHECK BACK
A dead end and the pack must circle back to find the true trail again.
FALSE TRAIL
Used after a check and wait or check and go, and the pack must go back to the last check and start searching for the true trail from there.
ROUND BACK (or FISH HOOK)
Hashers must run back to the last Hasher in the pack before continuing. Variations of the sign includes blobs of flour in the sign and the corresponding number of Hashers must run back to the the last hasher in the pack. Some hashers insist on calling this sign 'fish hook'.
ON-INN
Marks the end of the trail. Some Hashers insist on writing 'On-In'. According to informed sources the BH3 way of spelling the sign means "ON to the INN" (i.e. pub).
After run #1222 the hare's neighbour posted an interpretation of the sign on Facebook: 'Only one occupant in the house'
ONE-OFF MARKINGS
Some hashers introduce their own markings ...
... and the pack has to guess the meaning before continuing.