On The Run
The Ukrainian
1997:4 (Autumn)
Author: Unknown
In a world where many people
enjoy running as a form of relaxation, but many more
enjoy a drink, a select group referring to themselves
as "drinkers with a running problem" have
combined both pleasures in a semi-organised manner:
the Hash Harriers. A strange name derived from
combining: harrier, old English for runner or
harrier; hash, a Malay word for food sold by roadside
vendors; ore, another Malay word for alcohol. How did
two apparently opposite pastimes become united under
such a polyglot title?
Malaysia, August 1938, Captain
Gispert of the Fourth Seaforth Highlanders decided
that his Glaswegian troops awaiting combat and
renowned for their capacity for alcohol, were getting
badly out of shape in this corner of the British
Empire. Accordingly he decreed that the regiment
would do a weekly five-mile run. To prevent cheating,
the route was to be changed each week, soldiers
having to follow a specially marked trail laid only a
few minutes in advance. The best-laid plans...
Local Malaysian entrepreneurs
realised they were onto a good thing and before long
had set up stalls at the end of the route, selling
ore and hash to the thirsty troops, if anything
adding to the general unfitness. Bored soldiers
distorted the Malay words, ore becoming whore, hash
becoming house, and were soon referred to as the
Whorehouse Harriers.
British sensibilities
eventually reverted the name to Hash House Harriers,
but the tradition of a day dedicated to running and
drinking was firmly established: there were 117
separate runs before the war intervened, and a second
Hash formed in 1946.. In Singapore, 1962, the
tradition was revived by civilians and Hashes began
to catch on world wide. Today there are some
4,000 Hashes around the globe.
Inter Hash, the next international meeting , will be
held in Kuala Lumpur, October 1998. Scheduled to last
for three days, it could well go on for a fortnight.
The Kiev Connection
The Kiev Hash was formed on May
1st, 1994, by Christina Den Dulk (Netherlands),
Kirsten Olssen (Sweden), Colin Eborall (United
Kingdom) and Evelyn Matthieu (Belgium). Evelyn, who
left Kyiv this August, was the longest-standing
member, having taken part in 70 out of 86 Hashes. The
Kiev Hash Harriers run every second Sunday,
regardless of bad weather, temperature or holidays,
meeting outside the Hotel Salit (Arsenalna Metro) at
2 pm in the Summer and 1 pm in the Winter: typical
attendance is in the thirties, with more on special
events. Over the years, some 800 different people
have run with the Hash. Regular sponsors are
Heineken, Coca-Cola and Reebok, and the Hash (aside
from its drinking duties) raises funds for local
charities and orphanages.
Hashes world wide share a
number of light hearted traditions which baffle the
uninitiated, regardless of nationality. The committee
is headed by the Grand Master or Grand Mattress
(Current Grand Mattress of Kiev being Australian
Helen Davidson) and dedicated members are usually
given a Hash name - examples from Kiev being
"Hash Hammock", "The Plumber" and
"Factory Mistake". If you want to find out
more about how Hash members earned such names, about
'secret' Hash drinking songs and gestures (see box
[Swing Low...]), initiation ceremonies or the role of
committee members with titles like "Hash
Horn" or "Hash Flash", go along and
get involved. And if your Sunday afternoon stroll is
interrupted by a group of sweating enthusiasts
following a trail of flour or ribbons and shouting
incomprehensible things like "Checking!",
"On On!", and "Are You?", you
will know it was the hash.