The Hash House Harriers (abbreviated to HHH or H3) is an international group of non-competitive running social clubs. An event organized by a club is known as a hash, hash run or simply hashing, with participants calling themselves hashers or hares and hounds.
New to the Hash?
History of Hash generally
Learn to be a Hare and Lay a Trail
History of the Lagos Hash House Harriers
The ‘Hash House’ was the mildly derogatory nickname given (for its unimaginative, monotonous food) to the Selangor Club Chambers, Malaya, by the British Civil Servants and businessman who lived and dined there.
Ancient Harriers
The idea of Harriers chasing paper was not new to Malaya in 1938, as there had been such ‘Hare and Hounds’ clubs before in Kuala Lumpur.
Hash House Harriers
In 1938, Thomson, Lee, Bennett and Gispert in Kuala Lumpur founded their own club, following the rules they had learnt elsewhere. It was ‘G’ Gispert who was apparently the moving spirit behind the club, though he never acted as On-Sec or a Joint Master. It is not clear that the club actually had a name at the very beginning, but Gispert is credited with proposing ‘The Hash House Harriers’ when the Registrar of Societies required the gathering to be legally registered. The HHH duly celebrated its 100th run on 15 August 1941, but only 17 runs later was forced into temporary hibernation by the arrival of the Japanese and World War II.
The Hash Spreads Out
The second Hash Chapter was founded in Singapore in 1962. Sydney was the first chapter created outside Malaysia and Singapore, in 1967, and the worldwide expansion had started, but even by the time of K.L.’s 1,500th run, in 1974, the total was only 35, so the subsequent explosion has been spectacular indeed (including, of course, the Lagos Hash House Harriers in 1979).
Interhash
The first attempts at an Interhash get-together were the K.L. 1,000th post-war run in 1966, and the spectacular 1,500th run in 1974, when attendance was something over 300. The first genuine INTERHASH, in 1978 in Hong Kong broke new ground, with an attendance of around 800.
The Origin of the Lagos Hash…
Lagos Hash House Harriers had its origins in a post squash conversation over a number of Star beers at the Ikoyi Club in February, 1979 between Albert Withnall, founder of the Lagos H3, Robin Jackson, Angus Robertson and Bernie.
The first official run took place on Monday 5th of March, 1979 from Albert’s house at plot 1021, Ologun Agbaje Street, Victoria Island. The hares were Albert and Angus. There were 3 runners, excluding the hares, Robin, Bernie, and a computer man from Beam. Stephan Hess, Brian Spence and Jean-Piere arrived after the run. All the early hash members appeared to be characters in their own right. Robin Jackson, an accountant with Coopers and Lybrant, was an irrepressible individual, who was at the core of most events. There were, of course many more, who have contributed to the running of the Lagos Hash and in the process, the social life of the expatriates in Lagos.
Lagos HHH Hare Guide
So you’ve volunteered to be a hare, set a run and play host to the Lagos Hash House Harriers for an evening. Scary isn’t it (unless you’re used to playing to the public)? What will you be expected to do? Where do you get the beer? How do you cool it? How do you take care of catering? And, the main feature – how do you set a good trail?
These are just a few of questions that will be answered in this guide. It’s not going to be infallible however and Mismanagement is always available to help. It will assist you in avoiding common goof-ups, though sometimes you’ve just got to use your own initiative. We like to ‘reward’ a hare for doing good, not screwing up, however similar the reward may be!
Beer is the most important factor in the Hash. Keep this in mind. The heritage of the Hash is a drinking club with a running problem. (This does not exclude the exceptional teetotaller from joining and having fun). If you don’t get the beer temperature right you are sure to be rewarded. Warm beer is going to make a lot of Hashers unhappy, including yourself. Too cold, well, different schools of thought here but think about it, you’re no doubt going to be down-downing it!
One of the purposes of this revised Hash Hare guide is to outline the latest innovations that Mismanagement has arranged for you. These take care of beer and ice supply and also suggest food caterers if you can’t prepare food yourself. Thus all a Hare has to do is provide a venue; ice the drinks down, set a trail and host a fun filled evening. The arrangements for food and drink must be made with the appropriate person at least a week in advance & preferably earlier than this, with a confirmation closer to the date.
Beer Stops
The Lagos Hash permits beer stops but unless a special event does not provide beer for them. Cans of beer are more popular than bottles at beer stops but even more popular with many is water or/and soft drinks. Cut oranges go down well, or a container of diluted iced squash.
If it’s a T shirt run, the beer stop can be the hand-out point, thus making sure that Hashers have had to participate to receive the reward. Try and set the beer stop between 70 – 75% into a run. Also, make it at a point so that if it’s getting late, those that are beat can easily make it home by short cutting. Don’t let the Pack linger at a stop. Drink, make sure everyone’s caught up and move them out.
The Venue
Preferably secure, walled and gated. This way entry can be strictly reserved for paid up members and invited guests only that have paid for the evening. More public venues can be fun but they do not offer the same degree of security. The venue should also have adequate lighting, NEPA, backed up by generator. Circle should be as far removed from noisy generators as possible. Of course, these points may have to be compromised upon. The Hash is not a perfectionist organization!
The Run
You must be aware of the fundamentals of a Hash Trail. It is not a race! Marathon runs are positively not required! A well-designed trail offers 50 minutes or so of exercise to participants ranging from athletes to jog/walkers. The aim is to have the whole pack home within a maximum of ten minutes between first and last. The closer together the Pack comes home, the better you’ve done.
How is the foregoing achieved?
By a system of trail marks, chalk in the city and paper in the bush. These marks indicate ‘On’s, ‘Checks’ ‘On-On’s and ‘Check-Backs’. These will be described in detail shortly, but briefly describing city running, an ‘On’ is a chalked arrow marking the route direction.
A ‘Check’ is a mark, usually placed at some form of road junction. It gives the pack an opportunity to catch up on the ‘F.R.B’s. From the junction the trail could be in any direction except the direction you’ve come from. At this point the faster runners/serious Hashers will separate and check out the alternatives until a mark indicating ‘On-On’ is found. The ‘On-On’ call will go out and the pack will follow in the direction of the ‘On-On’. Obviously some ‘F.R.B.’s will have ventured completely in the wrong direction and will have lots of catching up to do.
A ‘Check-Back’ is a mark that indicates some form of reversal of direction. i.e. back straight, back and left or back and right one or more junctions. Clearly, the front runners will be the first to find these marks and thus when the pack reverses direction they will initially be at the rear. Plenty of ‘Check-backs’ are needed to hold a pack together. Make the ‘F.R.B.’s work. They love it! One rule to remember is: Except when ‘Checking-Back’ you must set the run so the pack does not run along any portion of the trail a second time, or at least, not for any distance. Crossing a trail already run over at right angles is permitted. Don’t spoil what could be an interesting trail by never deviating from the rules slightly. How much chalk & where?
‘Ons’ as frequently as you like, generally at not more than 50 meter intervals depending upon what objects there are to clearly mark upon.
‘Checks’ & ‘Check Backs’ – no hard and fixed rules but on a survey of a dozen recent Hashes, ‘Check Backs’ ranged between 5 & 7 while ‘Checks’ ranged between 3 & 5. Make sure you have sufficient ‘Check Backs’ of sufficient length or the ‘F.R.B.’s will eat your trail. Generally, the idea is not to hide the trail by trickery and anyone reasonably observant should spot it. ‘On’ marks that are not too clear or could be taken as being ambiguous should be reinforced by extra marking as soon as a convenient location can be found. Chalking should always be marked on the left of the trail. This is where the pack should be running, facing the oncoming traffic! (Who knows where traffic’s coming from in Lagos? Just be careful and keep your eyes and ears open!) Chalking is generally done approximately between knee and shoulder height of the average Hasher on telephone & electrical poles, road signs or whatever other permanent structure is available. Sometimes the only surface usable is the edge of the footpath. The chalk marks can either be marked facing the oncoming runners or on the side of the pole facing the trail. In the case of a divided highway, where the hare does not wish the trail to cross but run along it for some distance, assuming it is safe to do so, the trail can be marked on the right. ‘Run on the Right’ should be chalked up at the start of a stretch like this. It is also common practice to chalk up ‘On Over’ where the trail crosses a divided highway. Chalk marks must be written in an unambiguous manner as possible. White or yellow are the preferred colours, being most visible at dusk, or later! Pink chalk will earn you a reward in the Circle.
Trail Markings:
There can be a substantial difference in trail marks used by other Hashes. First time Hare anywhere, or experienced Hasher first time ‘Haring’ in Lagos should memorize these marks and use them correctly. Dire penalties exist for screwing up a good run by poor chalking.
N. B. While setting a run you will note many hash marks from previous trails .Thus your trail must be clearly date marked, or marked with your initials, so it’s not your fault when the pack become confused. You must advise the pack of the day’s markings at the ‘On Out’.
Tips for a Good Trail
Never underestimate how fast the ‘F.R.B’s are. They are very fast and will find your ‘Checks’ and ‘Check Backs’ much faster than you set them. If they can leave the pack far behind them some of them will. They are Bastards of course. ‘F.R.B’s are the only people who won’t complain if they get some long ‘Check Backs’, so give them to them.
Set many ‘Checks’ & ‘Check Backs’ to keep the pack together. A major intention of a good Hash trail!
Try to vary the scenery. A really well laid Hash in street after street is still boring. Use drains, sand & a bit of bush if you can find it. Find somewhere new, if possible.
Try to set a really meandering trail with Check Backs to the last, avoiding a long straight run in. A trail should be set that wherever possible the aged, infirm, drunks, wimps and physically disadvantaged ones can take an easy way home if needs be.
If you’ve got the means to do it, on a run that’s taken longer than you think and its getting dark, send out a vehicular sweeper to bring home the lost and lame.
Beware of rain, it can really make a mess of your chalking. If you set the trail early, go around it again just before the run and touch up any missing marks. It does pay to double up on crucial marks anyway. You can use a vehicle for touching up. Don’t get caught!
The foregoing are the LH3 fundamentals of setting a Hash. So all you Hares have to do now is find a venue, set a trail, ice the drinks down, be good hosts and enjoy yourselves………………..
