The Hash House Harriers (HHH or H3 or H4) is an international group of non-competitive running social clubs. An event organized by a club is known as a Hash or Run, or a Hash Run. A common denominal verb for this activity is Hashing, with participants calling themselves Hashers. Members are referred to as Harriers or Harriettes based on gender or preference.
The Hash is humorously known as A Drinking Club With A Running Problem, with the preferred beverage of consumption being beer.
History Hashing originated in December 1938 in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, then in the Federated Malay States (now Malaysia). A group of British expats began meeting on Friday evenings, to run in a fashion patterned after the traditional British game of hare and hounds, in which one or two "hare" runners scatter a trail of cut paper for the "hounds" to track. Apart from the excitement of chasing the hare and finding the trail, Harriers reaching the end of the trail would partake of beer, ginger beer, and cigarettes. With hash names in parentheses, the original members included Albert Stephen Ignatius Gispert ("G"), Cecil Lee, Frederick Thomson ("Horse"), Ronald Bennett ("Torch"), Eric Galvin, H.M. Doig, and John Woodrow.
A. S. Gispert suggested the name "Hash House Harriers" after the Selangor Club Annex, known as the "Hash House", where several of the original hashers lived and dined. The "Hash House" got its name for "its hodgepodge of edible servings being passed off for food". The term hash was used as an old British slang for "bad food".
Hashing ceased after the Invasion of Malaya during World War II, but several of the original group restarted it in 1946, after the war, and switched to meeting on Monday evenings. A.S.I. Gispert had been killed on 11 February 1942, in the Japanese invasion of Singapore, an event commemorated by many chapters with an annual Gispert Memorial Run.
While attempting to reorganize in the city of Kuala Lumpur after World War II, hashers were informed by the Registrar of Societies that, since they were a "group", they would require a constitution. The objectives of the Hash House Harriers as recorded on the club registration card dated 1950 are:
To promote physical fitness among our members To get rid of weekend hangovers To acquire a good thirst and to satisfy it in beer To persuade the older members that they are not as old as they feel
In 1962, Ian Cumming founded the second chapter in Singapore. Chapters are commonly called Kennels, following in tradition to similar Hound & Hare clubs. The idea spread through the Far East and the South Pacific, Europe, and North America, expanding rapidly during the mid-1970s.
There are about 1,500 chapters worldwide, with members distributing newsletters, directories, and magazines, and organizing regional and world hashing events. As of 2003, there were even two organized chapters operating in Antarctica.
Events Regular meetings Most hashing clubs gather on a weekly or monthly basis. However, some events occur sporadically, e.g., February 29th, Friday the 13th, Typhoon 'T8' or a full moon.
At a hash, one or more members ("hares") lay a trail, which is then followed by the remainder of the group (the "pack" or "hounds"). Paper, flour, or chalk are usually used to mark the trail. The trail periodically ends at a "check". The pack must find where it begins again; often, the trail includes false trails, short cuts, dead ends, "check backs," and splits. These features are designed to keep the pack together despite differences in fitness level or running or walking speed, as front-runners are forced to slow down to find the "true" trail, allowing stragglers to catch up.
Members sometimes describe their group as "a drinking club with a running problem", indicating that the social element of an event is as important, if not more so, than any athleticism involved. Beer remains an integral part of a hash. However, the balance between running and drinking differs between chapters, with some groups placing more focus on socializing and others on running.
Generally, hash events are open to the public and require no reservation or membership, but most require a small fee, referred to as "hash cash", to cover the costs incurred, such as food or drink, and the club treasurer may also be nicknamed "Hash Cash".
Some hash clubs have a hash home, which could be a bar, restaurant, resort, or a sports club. In that case, the hash always or almost always starts at the hash home. The club may then transport the hashers to some other location to start the run. Other clubs simply advertise the start to membership, usually by posting on a website. The run may finish where it starts, or it may be "A to B," meaning it finishes elsewhere.
It is common to have some combination of runners and walkers within a kennel. At some kennels it is more common that most participants will run and at others, everyone walks. Some kennels meet after dark and use flashlights or headlamps to find the marks, and some meet only during daylight. Some kennels are men only, some women only, but most are mixed. Many are very adult-oriented, which means bawdy drinking songs, etc, and others are family-oriented.
Socializing The end of a trail is an opportunity to socialize, have a drink, and observe the traditions of the individual kennel (see Traditions). When the hash officially ends, members may continue socializing at an "on-after", "on-down", "on-on-on", "apres", or "hash bash", an event held at a nearby pub, or restaurant, or private home.
Special events
In addition to regularly scheduled hashes, a club or chapter may also organize other events or themed runs. Many also hold special events on their anniversaries or when they reach a milestone in the number of runs, e.g. for run number 100, 200, 777, 1,000, etc. This may include multi-day events with several runs and evening celebrations.
Red dress runs An event held annually by many chapters is the "Red Dress Run". In 1987, Donna Rhinehart was taken to a hash in Long Beach, California, where she was invited to "wait in the truck" until her host returned. Instead Rhinehart joined the hash in her red dress. The following year, the San Diego Hash House Harriers sent Rhinehart an airline ticket to attend the inaugural "Red Dress Run". Hundreds of hashers wore red dresses for the event which was widely covered by local media. In addressing the crowd, Rhinehart, or "The Lady in Red" as she became known, suggested that such hashes might be held to raise funds for local charities. The event quickly spread around the globe to places such as Beijing, Montreal, Helsinki, Osan/Yangsan Hashers, Moscow, Tokyo, New Orleans, Washington DC, and Hobart, Tasmania. Over the years, it has raised millions of dollars for charity. The New Orleans Hash House Harriers attracted 7,000 participants to their Red Dress Run in 2010, raising more than $200,000 for 50 local charities.
Today the Red Dress Run is a Hash House Harriers' tradition. Rhinehart died in 2013 as the Hash House Harriers were celebrating the 25th anniversary of their Red Dress Run.
Variations Hash House Bikers (Bike hashes or bashes) follow normal hashing traditions with the hare and pack riding bicycles. The two oldest bike hash chapters or kennels are Singapore Bike Hash (July 1989) and Bike-O-Psycho in Orlando, Florida (July 1991).O2H3#257 Hash Roster dated 8 June 1991, unpublished. River hashes or snorkel hashes (rashes, splashes, or snatches) follow normal hashing traditions, but take place in an aquatic environment with participants using snorkels, fins, kayaks, floats, and other rafts. First documented underwater/scuba Hash trail was in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt by Cairo H3 in 1990. Snowshoe hashes are much like normal trails, but the hare and hounds are in the snow, on snowshoes. Marking trails with white flour or with colored chalk is impractical on snow, so flour can be colored using carpenter's chalk (most common practice) or jello mix (which will be more vibrant when it gets wet from the snow). This practice is commonly used on all winter hash trails in snowy regions, not just snowshoe hashing. Squirts of colored water may be attempted but it has a tendency to be further diluted by the snow and also melts the snow and thus sinks below the surface, becoming less visible than colored flour. SKASH is a Ski Hash, accomplished on skis. Hash-a-thon, tour-duh-hash, Hash challenge and tri-hash-thon are special "competitive" events. Hash-a-thons involve multiple trails (normally 4) in 24-hour period totaling up to 26.2 miles (a marathon). Tour-duh-Hash is 7 days of hashing. Hash Challenge is a team event (3-4 hashers) who complete a 42 km hash through the Malaysian jungle. Tri-hash-thon is an event consisting of 3 trails: 1 running, 1 swimming/snorkeling/river float, and 1 biking (bash). Family hashes welcome children (sometimes called hash house horrors or ankle biters) with soft drinks replacing alcoholic beverages and drinking songs toned down appropriately. Pick up hashes – Hashes that follow traditional hashing guidelines minus the pre-selection of a hare. At a pick up hash, the hare is decided randomly at the beginning of the event. Disaster Hash – A disaster hash is basically an impromptu hash that can be called by any hash member whenever a disaster occurs. The disaster can be anywhere in the world and can range from an earthquake to a flat tire. The disaster hash differs by two major hash components: the hares, and hash names. The hare is chosen on the spot, given flour, a destination, and a one-minute head start. Whoever catches the hare, becomes the hare, takes the flour, and continues along to the destination. This repeats as many times as the hare is caught. Secondly, disaster hashers are given special disaster hash names. All virgins get named at a disaster hash, usually having to do with the disaster in question, and the disaster hash name is completely separate from an ordinary hash. Solo Hash (or sash). A method used by Brighton Hash (BH7) during the Covid pandemic to allow hashing to continue. A route would be laid by a hare in advance and solo (or very small groups) would follow the marks. Usually done virtually using an app.
Trails Hashing has not strayed far from its roots in Kuala Lumpur (and before that as games 'Hare and Hounds' and 'paper chase'). The hares mark their trail with paper, chalk, sawdust, strings, or colored flour, depending on the environment and weather.
One of the functions of special marks like checks, false trails, check backs, hooks, etc. (see below), is to keep the 'pack' (the 'hounds' or runners) together, as faster runners will usually be the first to find them and so go down false trails, check backs, or are sent to the back by hooks, while the slower runners and walkers will have time to catch up with them.
Special marks may be used to indicate a false trail, a backtrack, a shortcut, or a turn. The most commonly used mark is a "check", indicating that hashers will have to search in any direction to find the continuation of the trail. Trails may contain a "beer check", where the pack stops to consume beer, water, or snacks, allowing any stragglers to catch up to the group.
Trails may pass through any sort of terrain and hashers may run through back alleyways, residential areas, city streets, forests, swamps, deep mud ("shiggy"), or shopping malls; and may climb fences, ford streams, explore storm drains, or scale cliffs in their pursuit of the hare.
Signals and terms