What Are Hash House Harriers?

Hashing, as we call it, is a take-off of the old english game of hares and hounds. During the late 1800s, there were many "paper chase" clubs that would hold weekly hare and hound runs in England. Several members were picked to be the hares and given a sack of shredded paper to drop as "scent" and a 10 minute head start. They would run off and throw the paper from time to time leaving a trail. Every so often, they would stop dropping the paper and head off in a new direction, simulating the trail of a rabbit. The hounds would soon follow, looking for the paper trail. When they would notice that the trail had stopped, they would spread out in all directions looking for the new trail. They would try to catch the hares and would, in either case of catching or not, end at a pub or restaurant and recount the days activities. This is the basis of the hash. There were several hare and hound clubs in Malaysia in the early 1900s and the founder of the hash, A. S. Gispert, had run with several. He and several others decided to start a club of their own, but added a few new twists. What they started has become the modern hash. One or more members of the club are chosen to be hares. They will either pre-lay a trail, we call this dead-hared, or will run with a head start, a live lay. The trail will be marked with flour or paper until they place a check point, usually marked with an X of some sort. There, the trail will end, and a new one will begin within a 100 meter radius. As in the old English game, the hounds spread out in all directions looking for the trail. Sometimes they will find a false trail, and will have to look further. After the run, we gather at a pub, bar, or someone's house to eat, drink and talk of the days events. The club has been described as a drinking club with a running problem, but I suppose he best description is that we are a social club that runs for some exercise, than has a few beer while we socialize. If you would like some more information, check out one of the hash pages I host below. On-on!

The Harrier Page
Internet Hash House Harriers Homepage
Nittany Valley HHH Homepage
Nittany Valley Full Moon Hash Homepage
Reading HHH Homepage
Terra Porcus Lux Hash House Harriers
Harrier International On-Line Page