All About the East Hill Hare & Hounds Running Club:
The East Hill HH RC is a KG (kinder, gentler) hash-type club. We like to run and we like our beer – But the club is definitely Family Friendly! Our roots are certainly in Hashing… but then again, Hashing roots are in Hare and Hounds running thought to have started in Great Britain in the late 1800′s. (See page “Hare & Hounds History”).
Locally, the Club was founded by Timo “Tail Spinner” Hartigan. Tail Spinner has been Hashing since the early 1980′s while in the Air Force stateside and overseas. He was the GM (Grand Master) of the Osan Bulgogi Hash in Korea from 1989-1991 and the Blue Hare-On H3 in Pensacla from 1993 to 1996. He has Hashed in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, New Jersey, North Carolina, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
“I stopped Hashing around 1996 to concentrate on my business”, said Tail Spinner. “It was getting a little crazy and took too much time.” An avid runner, he decided to resurect his love of “Hash-type” running by starting a Kinder Gentler (KG) Hash Club. About a year in the planning stage, the first running of the East Hill (KG) HHH was in May of 2008. The idea was to have Hare and Hounds runs with plenty of socializing, but without getting “too crazy”. “We were going to plan great runs and great socials, while keeping our clothes on and keeping the songs and toasts PG”, he said. Then to solidify the KG distinctiion, the name was changed to the East Hill Hare and Hounds Running Club in the Spring of 2009.
(((The following was copied and pasted from the Wikipedia, Hash House Harrier” article.)))
The Hash House Harriers (abbreviated to HHH, H3, or referred to simply as Hashing) is an international group of non-competitive running, social, and drinking clubs. An event organized by a club is known as a Hash or Hash Run, with participants calling themselves Hashers.
History of Hashing:
Hashing began in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 1938, when a casual group of British colonial officers and expatriates began meeting on Monday evenings to run, in a fashion patterned after the traditional British paper chase, to rid themselves of the excesses of the previous weekend. This original group consisted of four members: Cecil Lee, Frederick “Horse” Thomson, Ronald “Torch” Bennett, and Albert Stephen (A.S.) Ignacious “G” Gispert. John Woodrow was also an original member of the group, but is rarely credited as a founder, having left Malaysia soon after the war and returning to Scotland.
After meeting for some months, they were informed by the Registrar of Societies that as a “group,” they would require a Constitution and an official name. A.S. Gispert suggested the name “Hash House Harriers” in homage to the Selangor Club Annex, where the men were billeted, so named the “Hash House” for its notoriously monotonous food. The final word, “Harriers,” refers to the role of those in the chase, where the “hare” was given a head start to blaze a trail and mark his path with shreds of paper, and then pursued by a shouting pack of “harriers.” Apart from the excitement of chasing the hare and finding the “true” path, harriers reaching the end of the trail would be rewarded with beer, food, and a good social. The constitution of the Hash House Harriers is laid out in the following philosophy from a KL city club registration card dated 1950:
1. To promote physical fitness among our members
2. To get rid of weekend hangovers
3. To acquire a good thirst and to satisfy it in beer
4. To persuade the older members that they are not as old as they feel
Hashing died out during World War II after the Japanese invasion of Malaysia, but was re-started after the war by the original group, minus A.S. Gispert, who was killed in the Japanese invasion of Singapore. Apart from a “one-off” chapter formed in the Italian Riveria, growth of Hashing remained small until 1962, when Ian Cumming founded the second kennel in Singapore. The idea then spread through the Far East, Australia, and New Zealand, then through Europe and North America, booming in popularity during the mid-1970s. At present, there are almost two thousand kennels 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 kennels operating in Antarctica.
Events: The sole purpose of a kennel is the organization of Hashes: a running event loosely-based on hare hunting. Most kennels gather on a weekly or monthly basis, though some events occur sporadically, e.g. February 29th, Friday the 13th, 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). The trail often includes false trails, short cuts, dead ends, and splits. These features are designed to keep the pack together regardless of fitness level or running speed, as front-runners are forced to slow down to find the “true” trail, allowing stragglers to catch up. Members often 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. Alcohol is often an integral part of a Hash, though the balance between running and drinking differs between kennels, 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 some may require a small fee ($5-10 USD) to cover the cost of food or drink. Information on upcoming hashes is distributed through word-of-mouth, phone lines, or the Internet.
The Hash House Harriers is a decentralized organization, with each chapter (sometimes called a Kennel) individually managed with no uniting organizational hierarchy. A kennel’s management is typically known as the MisManagement and consists of individuals with various duties and titles, such as Grand Master or Beer Meister. There are more than 1,700 kennels spanning all seven continents. Most major cities are home to at least one kennel, with some areas boasting more than ten groups. Kennels typically contain 20-100 members and are usually co-ed, though some metropolitan area Hashes can draw more than 1,000 Hashers to an event.