About Us
We have a run once a week. 7-10 km for runners and 5-6 km for walkers (and everything in between). There is generally a beer-stop or a drink stop (with a bit of luck more than one).
It is not just running. We appoint a hare that lays a trail (if you are Dutch, think "speurtocht") that you need to follow. and there are puzzles to solve and conundrums to be faced. And we have these runs at as many different places as possible. to avoid boredom. Most cases you can get there by public transport and you can leave stuff in someones car, we call that a bag-drop.
Before the run, there is "chalk-talk", the hare explains the rules (generally quite confusing). The trail is constructed in such a way that the fast and slow runners and the walkers still end up at the same place at the same time.
At the end of the trail there is more beer and there are snacks. Don't worry, there is non-alcoholic stuff as well. Our religious advisor evaluates the happenings in the circle. Anyone who did something wrong is rewarded - He or she "dows" some beer while the rest of us sing a silly song. However, if you did something right you are severely punished - You have to drink some beer while the rest of us sing a silly song.
A few examples of our particularities:
Those who race, we call racists,
Those who drink wine, we call whiners,
Hashing is a verb,
“Act normal, that's already crazy enough”, is a fallacy.
There are many many many others and age-old traditions are created on the spot
Many of us are expats who set aside their brains once a week for just a few hours and behave in a way that is generally not accepted in civilian life. And indeed, running is not compulsory, nor is drinking beer. Children and dogs are welcome.
Remember the following two things at any and all times.
You are never too old to have a happy childhood
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Never let the truth get in the way of a good story
We are an International bunch. Whenever we can, we visit other chapters. Apart from The Hague you can find us in Amsterdam, Wageningen, Leiden and Brabant. We also go abroad when we are on a business trip or just because. For an (almost complete) list of European hash chapters you go to this page. The rest of the World can be found at www.gotothehash.net.
Each country has a "Nash Hash", that means a weekend from Friday afternoon till Sunday afternoon (sometimes longer) with runs, food, parties and more. Somewhere out of town, a place we have never been before. Sometimes we even make up an excuse to organize something (see FILTH in October 2022)
There are continental hash weekends that attract a crowd of a few hundred people from all over the World. The "EuroHash 2023" will be in Baarlo, the Netherlands. And every four years there is an "InterHash" with a few thousand people showing up.
Famous in the Netherlands is "Gay for a Day". A full day of fun on the day of the canal pride in Amsterdam. It is organized by Amsterdam H3 and FILTH. Also quite interesting is the Spooky hash organized by our friends from Brussels Manneke Pis H3 (BMPH3) and FILTH on a weekend near Halloween. The 2022 event will be in Liege, just across the border in Belgium.
For more Dutch events you visit this page. For European events you go here. Events outside Europe can be found here.
A History of Hashing
Hashing originated in December 1938 in Selayang Quarry, Selangor, then in the Federated Malay States (now Malaysia), when a group of British colonial officers and expatriates began meeting on Monday evenings to run, in a fashion patterned after the traditional British paper chase or "hare and hounds", to rid themselves of the excesses of the previous weekend.
The original members included Albert Stephen (A.S.) Ignatius "G" Gispert, Cecil Lee, Frederick "Horse" Thomson, Ronald "Torch" Bennett, Eric Galvin, H.M. Doig, and John Woodrow.[2] A. S. Gispert suggested the name "Hash House Harriers" after the Selangor Club Annex, where several of the original hashers lived and dined, known as the "Hash House".
Hashing died out during World War II shortly after the Invasion of Malaya, but was restarted in 1946 after the war by several of the original group, minus A. S. Gispert, who was killed on 11 February 1942 in the Japanese invasion of Singapore, an event commemorated by many chapters by an annual Gispert Memorial Run.
After World War II, in an attempt to reorganize in the city of Kuala Lumpur, they were informed by the Registrar of Societies that as a "group," they would require a constitution. 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.
The objectives of the Hash House Harriers as recorded on a club registration card dated 1950:
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. The idea spread through the Far East and the South Pacific, Europe, and North America, expanding rapidly during the mid-1970s. Cumming was widely credited with bringing hashing to the United States; he lived outside of New York City, where he continued to hash until his death on August 21, 2015.
At present, there are almost two thousand chapters in all parts of the world, with members distributing newsletters, directories, and magazines and organizing regional and world hashing events. As of 2003, there are even two organized chapters operating in Antarctica.
by WebFucker
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Even More About Us
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by Neptunus
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A Drinkers' Guide to Running the World
on CNN
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A Drinking Club with a Running Problem
on PodiumRunner.com
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Links to anything that has to do with hashing
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by The Hash Heritage Foundation
