While we try to get out into nature as much as possible some weeks it just doesn't work out that way. We have explored nearly every corner of Chiang Mai with our scouting efforts and even though it is preferred if we are galavanting through the jungle, there are times when we end up with Hares that have us go on a path that is mostly in some neighborhood and on this particular run we were very near major highways.
Chiang Mai is a very populated city after all
When we end up with trails like this a few good things happen and a few bad things happen. For one thing, the trail is a bit predictable to anyone that has done a run here before because we can't really go that far in any direction. The lush forest in the North West of that picture seems like a nice place to go but that is a giant hill, even though you can't really tell from the look of this picture. There is also nothing at the top of it and it would be a great way to guarantee injury if anyone decided to go up there.
The rest of it meandered between some housing areas and it is no great guess which way that the trail is going to go, we almost never venture to the streets of an neighborhood unless we absolutely must so in this case we were out the back windows of a lot of houses during this run and I am sure this was quite a surprise to the people living there who all of a sudden had 30 mostly foreigners, dressed in bright colors, that were all running just behind their houses.
Those don't sound so bad now do they? Well the good thing about going for a run in this area is that the Hare who made the trail lives in this area and therefore is extremely familiar with everything: Every turn, every ditch, every stray dog and every fussy neighbor. So he is able to guide us down a fun path that is going to be efficient at the same time. At just 6km, honestly almost exactly 6km and nearly exactly a 1 hour run time, this is what many in our crew would consider to be the perfect run anyway both in distance and time.
Another good aspect of a run like this is that we don't have to spend ages in a taxi in order to get there. While some of our nature runs are more beautiful, it can be quite annoying to be bumping around in the back of a pickup truck transport for more than half an hour or so.
So in my opinion this is a pretty basic run. It is one that gets the job done without too much fuss being necessary on anyone's part.
Next week we have been promised something a bit more nature oriented but for me anyway, I'm just happy to get out of the house and hang out with my pals. If you join up with and Hash around the world you will start to look forward to that aspect of it as well. It isn't always about WHAT you see on these things so much as it is WHO you see.
We are still doing 3 runs minimum per week here in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and if you would like to join you can check our website for more intimate details HERE
On On!
