About

What Happens at a Harrier Meeting?

The Run

They are called runs for mostly historical reasons… When this club started, most of the people who attended actually went for a run!

Over the past several years fewer and fewer people have been running and most people now walk.  But calling them walks sounds like something you do with your dog, so we prefer to call them runs.  There is always a basic structure to a run.

The Physical Activity

If the run is scheduled to start at 6:00 pm you should be there a bit before 6:00 pm.   There should be a meeting place established.  If it is someone’s house, you may decide to drop off your chairs, (for later), and then meet out in front of the house.   At 6:00 pm, people will normally start walking.  Most people walk for 45-60 minutes and then are expected to come back within an hour.   The person who has scheduled the run, (called the hare), will let you know what they expect.  There may be an established route, or they may just give you a general direction to walk, and you are anticipated to be smart enough to know to turn around in 30 minutes so you can make it back in time.  Sometimes the walk is scheduled at a different location.  Check the Team Reach App for the details.

If you don’t walk too far, or skip the walk altogether expect to be called a “ShortCutter” and be required to have a drink in the circle portion of the evening.

The Circle

After the run people gather for the “Social” part of the evening.

 
Rules of the circle:
 
Try to make a true circle if space allows.
No talking or hats allowed (except Kermit) in the circle and may get a Faux Pas.
For the next little while we will attempt to make the circle 10-15 minutes and follow a standard order. (see below)
 
 
ORDER OF CIRCLE:
 
  1. Call to order
  2. Ask for Faux Pas or funny things on the trail – anything unusual is called a Faux Pas and requires the offender to drink while we sing (and no rebuttal or argument allowed)
  3. Learn a song for the next few meetings
  4. Announcements
  5. Virgins – New people need to be identified and after a few meetings given a harrier name.
  6. Next run
  7. To the Hare (very last before eating)

Food & Libations

The actual details of the food and what is expected will be established by the Hare.  This normally involves one of 3 options;  1) Bring your own food.  2) Eat first and expect only snacks.  (often $5) 3) Pay for a simple meal like pizza.  (often $10).   You always bring your own drinks.

The Songs

There is a standard set of songs used for specific situations.
We will learn them over the next few meetings.
Singing along is part of the fun, so plan to learn them.
 
Here is a starting set of songs we will be using.
Watch this space for future detail for each song.
 
Birthday – why were they born so beautiful
Hare – set the run to nowhere
Faux Pas –  here’s to Kermit, etc
Selected verses from various rugby songs
also some specialty songs for some people.