Hash House Harriers

For those who believe drinking and exercise are mutually exclusive activities, I present to you a organization called the Hash House Harriers (H3). This "drinking club with a running problem" was founded in Kuala Lampur in 1938 and now has established "kennels" the world over. There are many groups (particularly in Boston) that will get together, go for a run and have a few drinks at a bar afterwards. The H3 is different in that it says, "Why wait until the end of a run to drink?"

I began hashing after my Mom, the loving influence she is, gave me an article that she had spotted in the local paper. It was a profile of the Albany kennel, the Halve Mein H3, and described a typical hash (a run in H3 terms). She handed it to me and said "You like running. You like drinking. Why not try this?" or something to that affect. Anyway, I received the article in 2004 but didn't get up the courage to hash until St.Patrick's Day of 2005. It took me a little while to start going regularly, but once I did I was hooked.

So how does it work? A group of hashers will typically meet at a bar before a hash and it's optional to have a beer or two before trail even starts. The big catch, though, is that you don't even know where the run will go. One hasher, called the hare, lays trail on roads/trails/whatever in chalk or flour on the ground for the pack (the rest of the hashers) to follow. There are several marks and plenty of twists and turns. One mark, a circle, means the hare has decided to go in a different direction and it's up to the pack to figure out where. More inventive hares will run the pack through some shiggy (water, mud, thick brush, yards with old abandoned cars), to some nice vistas or through large, confused crowds. There are usually 1-3 beer checks DURING the run and an on-in at the end. The on-in is a bar or someone's house and more drinking and shenanigans go on there.

The most fun comes from large events. For instance, the Boston H3 has a weekend-long hash the weekend of the Boston marathon. I was 1 of 4 hares for the event and we all decided to dress up like punk rockers. There were ~100 hashers in town so we had to come up with an interesting trail to both amuse them and avoid getting caught by the pack (remember, hares only get a limited head start). Imagine that many people running around the North End of Boston looking for chalk marks on the ground. It's spectacular mayhem that gets a lot of funny looks.

Speaking of funny looks, the big event of the Halve Mein H3 is the Red Dress Run, held every May. Same idea, a weekend long event, but the catch is that during the hash everyone must wear a red dress. Yes, everyone. Imagine, if you will, seeing a crowd of about 50 people scattered around, looking for marks on the ground and yelling about beer. It's totally worth it, if only for the spectacle. In addition to the red dress, I've also hashed in a kilt, dressed as a woman for halloween but mostly it's standard running gear.

Really, hashing is about drinking, running, friends, fun and camaraderie. That, and giving every hasher a dumb nickname...mine is Krusty the Meat Miser. Perhaps I'll explain it at a later date but for now, I prefer the shroud of mystery.