| I happened across this article while flying from the
IPOH post-lube back to KL after World InterHash 1998 (In the Malaysian Airlines Magazine).
It is the best article I have seen on the origin of hashing. It was no doubt relayed from
someone over a beer in the Selangor Club. On-On and Enjoy,
Hazukashii
HASH BASH
Interhash '98 in Kuala Lumpur celebrates the 60th
anniversary of the founding of the Hash House Harriers in Malaysia's capital.
The celebrated running event has a colorful history. The original
idea was to mimic the Hare and Hounds or Fox and Hounds style chases that have been around
for centuries in one form or another. Some "gentle-men" substituted men for the
game in an effort to add something different to the sport. There is evidence of this in
colonial America as well as in England. It seemed a logical development then, to
substitute the hounds with runners as well. Men, not as well endowed as dogs with a sense
of smell, required a trail of some sort to track their quarry. Paper seemed the ideal
solution. This sport was well entrenched long before these sportsmen became known as
"hashers" and the sport was referred to as Hounds and Hares or the Paper Chase.
The Hash House Harriers had its humble beginnings in 1938 with an Englishman named Albert
Stephen Ignatius Gispert, in what is now Malaysia. Having a fondness for the "paper
chase," he gathered together a group of expatriates - including Cecil Lee,
"Horse" Thomson and "Torch" Bennet - to form a group in Kuala Lumpur
that would later become a worldwide legacy. The fraternity received its name from the
Selangor Club Chambers, which due to its lacklustre food was commonly referred to as the
"Hash House."
Almost a dozen runs took place, although attendance could sometimes be counted on one
hand. The sport was cut short during World War II, but then re-established when peace
returned. It was some time before the international phenomena we are familiar with today
began spreading around the world. A hash was formed in 1947 in Bordighera, Italy (near
Milan) by some former members of the original Hash House Harriers. It ceased operations
for many years but was reborn in 1984 and is now quite alive and well as the Royal Milan
and Bordighera HHH.
It wasn't until 1962 that the next official group was formed in Singapore. The Singapore
HHH was slowly followed by others until by the 1,500th postwar run in 1973, there were 35
known hashes around the world This figure climbed into the hundreds by the 1980's and
there are now well over 1,300 active hashes.
The main difference between hash groups is their emphasis on the sporting versus social
aspects of hashing. Some choose to maintain the tradition of a live hare hash chasing
runners while they lay a trail after being given a few minutes head start. They thrill in
the hunt the occasional catch and the notion that there is a real pursuit in progress
during the event.
Other hashes have shunned the competitive nature of the live hare hashes, pre-laying the
trail with a number of marks designed to keep the pack together. These gathering checks
and other delaying marks allow the hashers of the dead hare hashes to sing and make merry
from point to point, emphasizing the social aspects of the sport.
Regardless the event, hashing knows no age boundaries, with family hashes and children's
hashes, as well as members from all ages, with hashers in their 70's or even older. So
there's no reason to not join. As one popular Hash House Harriers' motto goes: "If
you've half a mind to join the hash, that's all you need!"
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