The annual Ballbreaker run will be upon us soon and while we are still ironing out the pre-payment details the date has been set and provided that there is not a new World War (and probably even if there is) the CMH3 annual Ballbreaker run will be taking place on January 18th, 2026.
What the hell is a Ballbreaker?
The Ballbreaker is our annual run that is 3 times as long as our normal runs. A normal run for us is 5km or so, this one, as it has been laid out to me as even I do not know the exact specifics of the run, will be 18km long. There are 3 bailout stations that have our equivalent of medics - meaning that they have a phone and some bandages - and at all of these stations there will be ample water and other refreshments.
If you want to get the "full award" (which is nothing other than pride) you need to also drink a full beer at each one of these stations. By "drink" we mean actually consume it, do not wear it. We are not opposed to most things here at the Chiang Mai Hash but wasting beer is an awful sin so yeah, just don't do that.
There is no pressure to drink though... many of our members are sober and there is nothing wrong with that. You will be excluded from the top awards (which is, again, nothing other than pride) if you don't drink though. Nobody has ever complained loud enough that we actually cared about this in the past and that is unlikely to change.
Much more preparation goes into these events than a usual get-together and there is also an after-party dinner for all participants even if you don't do the full circuit. If you don't think you can do 18km fear not, most of the people that participate, which we estimate will be around 50 or so people, do not finish the entire track. Only about a third of the people that start the "race" finish it and nobody has a problem with that.
Unlike other races that take place in Thailand as well as a ton of other places, we do not have numbers on our shirts nor do we have an actual qualified medical team, so we strongly encourage people to keep their phones with them or if they choose not to, stay near someone that does have one. We always alert Chiang Mai Rescue about our location before the event but thankfully in the 20 or so years that we have been doing this, there has only been a single instance where someone had to be evacuated.
He was really old and it was a heart issue. It had nothing to do with the danger of the trail...not that this would make it any less serious or anything.
For the time being the date is set in stone. January 18th it is and this will not change for anything. Not rain, not border closures, not sickness... However we are still a relatively disorganized lot and we haven't yet figured out how people outside of Thailand can prepay for this, which is required for us to hold you a spot.
You can check out the full details at our official website and get in touch with the people that will help you to get what you need to ensure that you have a spot. It is not necessary to be a HHH member to participate, but this is also not a great run for someone that has never done a Hash-run before.
In Hash runs, the trails are not known to anyone except the creators beforehand, and the trails are also sporatically marked. It is important that the pack work as a team to determine the way forward. It's a lot of fun. Please consider coming to join us!
ON ON!
