25th Annual New Years Day Trail-of-the-Hare CHEDDARHEAD Hike & Party

IN A NUTSHELL:  On each of the past five New Years Days I've enjoyed heading up a "subgroup" of Atlanta Outdoor Clubbers to participate in this amazing event.  This year we're excited about doing it again - so please join me (a.k.a. "Dirty Limerick") and more than 100 of my friends in the Atlanta Hash House Harriers & Harriettes (AH4) for our 25th annual "Cheddarhead."  It's a blast helping one another follow the "trail of the hare" which leads us to a big outdoor all-you-can-eat-&-drink "hash bash" dinner party.  If you're looking for something festive and wildly different to ring in 2014 and perhaps ease you out of a hangover from the night before, the Cheddarhead should fill the bill, and it always provides just enough aerobic exercise to keep “resolution guilt” from kicking in!
  No funds are collected by the AOC for this event.  If you register for our AOC "subgroup" below and then on New Years Day still wish to participate, simply bring $10 in cash to chip in to the AH4 "hash cash" volunteer.  This covers your fair share of the bountiful Wisconsin-style food, refreshments and door prizes.
  After a brief welcoming ceremony at the Start, we "harriers" (a.k.a. "hare chasers" or "hashers" - usually 150 or more of us) will help one another find and follow the trail of the AH4 volunteer "hare," usually laid by him or her an hour or two earlier.  Our lead harriers at the front of the group will yell "On-On!" back to us as we spot successive baking-flour splotches and chalk marks, confirming that we're indeed on the hare's tricky 3- to 4-mile long trail.  After a couple of hours and an amazing variety of terrain we should all arrive safely at the "On-In" party area - usually the back yard of one of the veteran AH4 hashers.

WHEN & WHERE? At 1:30 PM our AOC subgroup will join the large crowd of Hash House Harriers at their "START" location, a free parking & meetup spot.  This year it will be the parking lot of the "AMF Marietta Lanes" bowling Center at 565 Cobb Pkwy just off I-75 in SE Marietta. (See precise Directions, Lat/Lon, etc. below and for a zoomable map or satellite view click on the square blue & green "Event Location" icon above.)

SPECIAL NOTE:  Think of the "Cheddarhead" as a New Year's Day "counter-resolution celebration!"  To enjoy this wild & crazy annual event it helps to be adventurous, thick-skinned, and irreverent about social norms.  As we help one another follow the "trail of the hare" we'll occasionally find ourselves in unusual outdoor places or situations such as the tricky creek-crossing pictured above.  The big outdoor bash is always a go, rain or shine - another reason we give it a "D3" difficulty level even though it's not as long mileage-wise as our more typical AOC D3 hikes.  You newcomers to "hashing" should be forewarned that you may be taken aback by the racy nicknames, song lyrics and general rowdiness of this so-called "drinking club with a running problem."  For more on the history, culture and worldwide popularity of the good-natured sport of "Hashing" go to:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hash_House_Harriers

MORE on the EVENT and WHAT TO BRING:  Between 1:30 and 1:45 please look for me (Charlie, wearing an "Atlanta Outdoor Club" T-Shirt and "Dirty Limerick" beaded hash necklace) in the START Location parking lot where everyone is checking in.  I'll mark you present on our AOC subgroup roster and help you register with our AH4 hosts, and introduce you to some of my longtime hashing friends. 
  At about 2:00 our "chief cheddarhead" (hash name "Public Enema") will call the motley crowd to "hash attention!" for our big mock-formal annual welcoming ceremony featuring the hilarious "Wedge of Allegiance" Cheddarhead creed.  A few minutes later we'll set off together at a fast-walking and/or slow-jogging pace along the hare's trail via a creative sequence of forested urban trails, powerline easements, residential streets, and perhaps a creek crossing or two.  Feel free to walk or jog with me and other experienced hashers during this "follow-the-hare" part of the festivities in case you're worried about staying "on trail."
Along the trail we'll enjoy at least one refreshment "pit stop" in anticipation of the big dinner party at the trail's end.
  The custom is for each participant to bring a small Duffel Bag of Extra Garments and extra dry Shoes & Socks (esp. if it's cold), and if you like a light foldup Chair which will be delivered for us from our "START" parking lot to the "mystery-location" party venue.  (See more below in "What to Wear & Bring.") 

"CHEDDARHEAD"  PARTY DETAILS:  The annual Atlanta Cheddarhead New Years Day event gets its name from the fact that its founder, a veteran AH4 hasher known as “Public Enema” and his "partners in crime" are from Wisconsin. (See some of their comments about its history in the NOTES section below.)  At the big party and outdoor cookout they provide delicious all-you-can-eat Wisconsin-style food and refreshments - usually including charbroiled brats, blackeyed peas & rice, "poutine" (Canadian-style french fries & gravy), salad, beer & soft drinks, and a wide assortment of munchies & desserts.  If you like fried mozzarella sticks you’ll love their breaded deep-fried cheese curds - fresh each year from Wisconsin and prepared onsite at the party.  One of the "Cheddarheads" named "Oops" even drives a truckload of premium bottled beers down from Wisconsin each year!  There’s lots of friendly socializing plus nice door prizes, bawdy drinking songs, and obligatory “down-downs” of small cups of beer for “notables” such as the hares, “rule violators,” and newcomers to the sport.  (You may request your non-alcoholic drink of choice for a "down-down" in lieu of beer.)  Please plan to imbibe in moderation, esp. if you’re driving.

POST-PARTY FREE SHUTTLE: Beginning at about 5:30 PM some of our Cheddarhead hosts will offer complimentary shuttle rides back to the Start parking lot for hashers and their gear.  After we reach our own vehicles it will be appreciated if some of us can take the time to provide the same short shuttle (typically only about 5 minutes from the Party back to Start) for other partiers who may still need a ride.

OPTIONAL EARLY-EVENING BOWLING PARTY!  After the afternoon excitement many of the Hashers will gather at the bowling center by our cars for a few friendly games, and everyone is invited.  It's inexpensive if you decide to take part and usually begins each year at about 6:00 PM.

FOR the AH4 OFFICIAL NEW YEARS DAY 2014 “CHEDDARHEAD" ANNOUNCEMENT ARTICLE click on our following link. Note: The final fully edited version may not appear until a few days prior to the event.
http://atlantahash.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=3811
 • For a chart of links to our numerous Hash House Harrier groups in Georgia including AH4 go to:
http://www.OnIn.com/hhh/#georgia_hashes

THE "START LOCATION" for the event will be the free REAR Parking Lot of the "AMF Marietta Lanes" bowling center, at 565 Cobb Parkway, Marietta, GA 30060 - about a mile west of I-75 Exit #263.  Their phone number is 770-427-4696, in case you get lost en route.  Our vehicles should be safe here until we return via the free shuttle rides discussed above, after the big party.  For a zoomable map or satellite view of this meetup spot click on the square blue & green "Event Location" icon near the top of this article.

DIRECTIONS to the "START" from the I-75/ I-285 INTERCHANGE in NW ATLANTA (as recommended by Google.com/maps):
1.  From the I-75/I-285 Interchange take I-75 North about 3 miles and get off at Exit #263, the "GA 120 Loop/ South Marietta Parkway" exit.
2.  At the first fork in the half-mile-long exit ramp bear Leftward under the overpass bridge, then immediately bear Rightward to loop clockwise around the cloverleaf and westward over I-75 onto "South Marietta Pkwy" (part of the "GA-120 Loop.")
3.  After you cross the I-75 bridge continue straight ahead about 0.7 mile on South Marietta Pkwy to the traffic light at Cobb Parkway.
4.  Turn Left onto Cobb Parkway, go 0.2 mile and look for the large "AMF Marietta Lanes" bowling center on your left just past the junction of Church Rd. 
5.  Turn Left into the AMF bowling center's front parking lot, then drive around the right side of the building to the larger rear lot.
6.  We'll all park in the bowling center's REAR parking lot and hook up there with the dozens of returning regular Hash House Harriers.  Please look for me (Charlie, a.k.a. Dirty Limerick) to let me know you've arrived as part of our AOC "subgroup."  Also please look for the AH4 Hash Cash volunteer and take care of your Cheddarhead registration and $10 cash fee.

LAT/LON COORDINATES of BOWLING CENTER'S REAR PARKING LOT: You GPS and Google.com/Maps users may wish to use this as your entered destination in conjunction with the above directions:  33.93883,-84.51273

"CHEDDARHEAD FAQs" from an online 2009 magazine article: http://www.blueridgeoutdoors.com/outdoor-sports/running/on-on-hashers-are-drinkers-with-a-running-problem/

The Cheddarhead
There’s hashing, and then there’s the Cheddarhead, which could be the most creative hash in the Southeast. Take your standard "run-drink-run-drink" afternoon and throw in nearly 200 participants, 60 pounds of fried cheese curds, polka music, bowling, bratwurst, and more beer. Blue Ridge Outdoors talked with the Cheddarhead’s original founders, Dave Paul (a.k.a. Public Enema) and Derald Loomis, about the art of cooking cheese curds, light public nudity, and their obsession with running and drinking.

How was the Cheddarhead conceived?
Hashers as a group are very irreverent. It’s such a peculiar sport or lifestyle. You’ll only find a certain number of people who want to run through the woods, hollering, drinking, and getting bloody. Irreverence is a key aspect of hashing, so we wanted to play on the New Year’s resolution. Everyone wants to be healthy in the New Year, so we went in the opposite direction. We eat as much high fat food as possible and drink as much beer as possible. I mean, how ridiculous is it to eat cheese curds and run? I love it.

What is a cheese curd? 
It’s made during a process that involves separating milk into whey and blobs of curd cheese. They’re little blocks of cholesterol. People who worked in the Wisconsin cheese factories used to bag these little blocks up and take them to their local pub and eat them as a snack. We have 50 or 60 pounds of them shipped down for the run. They come right off the line, so they’re really fresh. If they’re not fresh, they’re not good. Of course, we fry them in a deep fat fryer.

Has the Cheddarhead grown over the years? 
The Cheddarhead started with 40 or 50 people. It was a very manageable group. Now, we get about 200 people, and Johnsonville Brats came on as a sponsor this year. They heard about the run, liked the idea, and gave us a whole bunch of brats. It’s definitely a big deal now, with all the cooking, and the logistics. Last year, we had 176 runners even in the cold weather. That’s the power of cheese.

Lots of great Food, Refreshments & Door Prizes!  Simply pay $10 in cash to the AH4 "Hash Cash" registrar in the START parking lot and give him or her your name.  Our "hasher" hosts expect no advance guarantee of anyone's participation, but if you find that you can't join us please cancel your AOC registration, since we'll likely have a wait list of other AOCers who would like to be part of our "subgroup."