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Kansas City Hash House Harriers
A Drinking Club with a Running Problem
Sounds almost illegal, doesn’t it? But really, it may be the perfect combination of exercise, social interaction and BEER. Some of us are runners, but without much emphasis on speed, hence the slogan “drinking club with a running problem.” In fact, it may as well be “drinking club with a bi-pedal locomotion problem,†since many of our members walk rather than run.
The Original Hash House Harriers…
In 1938, A.S. Gispert, an accountant working at a Malaysian rubber plantation, organized a group of his friends for runs to work off the rigors of the weekend. They met at the Sanegal Hash House (hash house being a British term for a diner) and there played the poor man’s version of the fox hunt called “paper chase.†This involved giving one runner a few minutes head start, then following the trail of discarded paper left by the fleeing man. “G” (Gispert) added a twist: at various points in the trail, an intersection was set. Trail could head off in any direction, but only one direction was ‘true’. Faster runners were slowed as they solved the trail, allowing slower runners or walkers to catch up. Thus, the Hash House Harriers were born.
Is It for Me?
Distance and Territory
The trail can be one of the most exciting parts of a hash run. Rather than running laps around a local track, be prepared to run through fields, woods or jungle, ford streams and jump fences. Your time on trail might be 45 minutes to an hour and a half. But relax, this doesn’t mean flat out sprinting (you might often be waiting at an ‘intersection’ for others to find a way) and there is always a refreshing ‘beer check’ (sometimes more than one) about halfway through the trail. Each week the hashes start and end in different places. No boring tracks here.
Sex
YES! Oops … um … hashing is for both males and females, but because we sometimes have parts of the runs or the end of runs in bars, hashing is restricted to adults (21 and over). The hash is a fun group, but far from politically correct. We have filthy drinking songs, mostly stolen from English rugby teams, which would make many respectable people blush. A good sense of humor is the hash’s only real requirement.
The Down-Down:
After finishing the trail, the Down-Down commences. The Down-Down is both the celebration at the end of the trail, and the award handed out to hashers guilty of some misdeeds. A Down-Down is a cup of beer (or soda or water, if needed), awarded to various hashers by the GM or hasher running the circle for trail infractions, anniversaries or any other damn reason. A drinking song accompanies each Down-Down, and then you gotta chug away. It’s great fun in the frat party tradition. Food is also provided at the end.
How Do I Join?
Show up. A fee of $6.00 is charged per person to help with the cost of the refreshments. There is no annual fee or commitment. Show up as seldom or often as you like. Keeping in mind that missing hashes (known as “back sliding”) is cause for doing a Down-Down…not that chugging a beer is punishment in our eyes.
Special thanks to PRH3.com, from whom we stole this explanation because it was better than ours. I’m sure they stole it from someone before them…
For more information:
April 2006
Cool Hash Page of the Month Award!
