Being a part of the Hash House Harries has so many benefits. The exercise is a good place to start but believe it or not there are other, probably better benefits than just getting some outdoors cardio a couple of times a week. I feel as though this is especially true if you are living away from your home country because it can prove difficult to make friends when you are an expat. It is difficult to tell the tourists from the residents and therefore, having people to consistently hang out with can prove difficult. The Hash House Harriers basically globally speaking is very good at helping out with this because once you go on a run with them, you are now in the "circle" provided you aren't a complete goon and the people in the group tend to be mostly locals who are more than willing to help you out as far as getting your bearings straight in your new city.
When you run with us, it doesn't matter if it is your 1st run or your 201st, you are part of the group now and everyone is entitled to the benefits that come along with that. The benefits aren't huge unless you enjoy hanging out with a bunch of silly people that like to drink beer and occasionally enjoy going for a run in the jungle.
One of the things that we like to do after a run is that there will be something called the "On On On' which is just a restaurant that all of us will go to afterwards rather than heading straight home during our weekly events. This normally results in about half of the participants carrying on to the pubs afterwards as well. Of course none of this is compulsory but if you are new in town, it is a great way to meet a ton of people that are going to be a lot of fun.
It is also a great opportunity to be dressed silly and probably get introduced to some local food at local prices as well. The businesses that we are aligned with are familiar with us and would never dream of trying to charge us tourist prices. Plus the people that are organizing these things are long-term locals and many of them are actually Thai. I am sure this is true in other Hash chapters around the world.
This is something I have taken advantage of in many different countries and it works like this: You rock up to an event, hopefully letting someone know that you are coming on their social media, and then you hang out with the for the day. You will almost certainly be invited to do other things with the group and while you are there you can always ask questions about the local area if you are brand new. This was immensely helpful to me many years ago when I first moved here and now that I am a local, I pay it forward with anyone that joins up with us here in Chiang Mai. I know first-hand that it can be quite intimidating to move to a new city especially when you do not speak the local language and the Hash House Harriers knows all the stuff and is more than happy to help anyone. I know that my 2nd house here in Chiang Mai was much better than the first one that I worked out online before arriving, and I wouldn't have even known about its availability had it not been for the HHH.
There are a ton of reasons to join up with the Hash House Harriers if you are fortunate to be in one of the 5000+ cities that they operate in around the world, but getting a helping hand from some people that have lived there for a while is an undeniable advantage.
We are still doing 3 runs per week at minimum, every week. If you would like to join us you are welcome to do so, no experience necessary! Check out the official schedule here.