It's 'Hash
heaven' in the Philippines
Pacific Stars and Stripes
Sports Section
22 March 1990
MANILA (Stripes)
Coming from Memphis and Moscow,
Baghdad and Brunei, more than 1,650
"Hashers" came to Manila last weekend for
Interhash 1990, tagged the "world's biggest fun
runs" by organizers.
For a dedicated
"Hasher," being with so many comrades was a
slice of paradise. "This is like Hash
heaven," said one American runner as he sprinted
down a trail. Around 50,000
"Hashers," including many U.S. military
runners, belong to more than 800 Hash House Harriers
clubs in 128 countries, according to Interhash joint
Grand Master Rob Denny.
The event, founded in 1938 by a
group of expatriates in Malaysia, has boomed in the
1980s, with clubs starting in the United States and
other areas outside Asia. Denny, also Grand
Master of the Angeles City Hash House, near Clark Air
Base, said the lure of the event is not running but
camaraderie and socializing that surrounds the Hash.
Even though "Hashers"
came speaking a variety of languages, they were bound
be commonly known Hash songs, vocabulary and
traditions. "It's amazing that with so
many people of diverse political and cultural
backgrounds drinking and carrying on, there was not a
fight or disagreement," said John Theroux of
Subic Bay Naval Station, Grand Master of the Olongapo
City Hash House. "It's the Hash
spirit."
The Interhash is held every two
years and is scheduled for Phuket, Thailand, in 1992.
A Hash race is based on a paper chase in which
a "hare" lays a trail and the runners, or
the "pack," follow. False trails and
checkpoints that change the direction of the run make
it more difficult. Denny said 23 Hash runs
have been set Antarctica. The 15th Himalayan
Hash Trek to Nepal is this month. Denny said
close to 3,000 "Hashers" were expected but
many canceled after the December coup attempt in
Manila.