Hash House Harriers

I tried to get into it once but your Mornington Crescent analogy is apt. This was with a bunch of expats in Japan though which might have upped the nonsense ante.

What kind of secret society is this?

It's 20 years or so since I last ran with them so things may have changed...

I liked the concept and really wanted to enjoy running with them but found them to be a very odd group of individuals.

I did it a few times about 20 years ago when my then g/f, as a former expat living in the far East, was into it. I really loved it, although I still drank alcohol in those days.

"OnOn"

Mrs FlyingOx and me hashed all round SE Asia and had a total blast. Was a while ago but the gist of it seemed to be:

Meet up in the home town to get a coach to somewhere picturesque about an hour away

Do a roughly 10k loop with a beer stop half way

Have an end-of-hash huddle where everyone (mainly that day's organiser/s) gets the piss ripped out of them

Get back on the coach and drive back, drinking all the way

Go out on the lash

Everyone took it in turns to set up routes - waymarked with arrows/colours made out of flour - and organise the coach/halfway beer stop/evening drinking location, and I don't ever remember seeing any politics or shenanigans that would have put us off the whole thing. It was very much centered around excessive drinking though so possibly not everyone's cup of tea.

Its still going we run regularly with a couple for groups. There are a wide range of types of groups from those who are runners that like a drink at the end to drinkers who will do a short walk first.

http://hhh.org.uk/

Group local to me got in the newspapers recently because locals assumed all the little symbols drawn on gates and such was criminal gangs indicating targets. 🤣

Big in the expat community, dint know anyone bothered in the UK. It was a lame excuse to run round the jungle shouting/scaring the locals and then get totally blootered. Those were the days... 🙃

scotroutes - if you take away the weird stuff are you not left with orienteering?  there's a new generation of app based orienteering (MapRun) which might also appeal.  Your local orienteering club would probably be delighted if a group of people wanted to come along on a regular basis (not just as a one off - which takes a lot of effort for them for little return).

@poly - I had much the same thought, and that might be more up my street. Orienteering does seem to require a certain amount of navigational nous though and I thought Hashing seemed a bit simpler. I'll have a look at Maprun. Ta.

A guide on the more common waymarking symbols seems like an obvious place to start, as well as any advice on avoiding littering with inappropriate materials.

A hare sets the trail beforehand using spots of flour every 20 to 50 yards depending on terrain.  The principle, as it was explained to me, is that you aim to have a sort of flower petal shape where you run out and back repeatedly around a central point (if that makes any sense).

Every so often you have a 'Check' which is a circle, normally at the tip of one of the flower petals of your route.  When a runner finds a Check they have to call out 'Check'.  The runners then have to find the trail which might start up to 100 yards away (depending on terrain).  There are normally one or two false trails which can have up to three flour marks on it before the runner gets to a big cross.

Once a runner finds flour after a Check they shout On On so everyone knows where the trail is and they can follow straight away.  They also call out 'False trail' when they find a cross.

The main principle is that the faster runners run further while the slower runners run less.  Whether this works or not depends on how much faster the fast folk are.

Saying all that, I'm not sure how the flour thing work in Scotland. I've only ever been to hashes in Spain, Texas, and the Middle East.  Rain was seldom an issue 🙂

if you take away the weird stuff are you not left with orienteering?

I'm not sure it's even really orienteering though, it's basically just a bunch of half-pissed folk charging around trying to find little piles of flour.

I got invited to a few when I was living in Berkshire area, but found it really weird.  I used to do a lot of XC running/racing, but when it got to the pub and the initiation/drinking games ceremonies started, together with various random (and apparently hilarious songs), I decided it definitely was a clique I didn't want to be part of.  Maybe if you've been part of an immigrant community somewhere else in the world and felt a need to blend in with the locals (or not), then fine.

The main principle is that the faster runners run further while the slower runners run less.

This is one of the benefits we were thinking about.

Saying all that, I’m not sure how the flour thing work in Scotland. I’ve only ever been to hashes in Spain, Texas, and the Middle East

Group local to me got in the newspapers recently because locals assumed all the little symbols drawn on gates and such was criminal gangs indicating targets

A local Facebook group - who are a certifiable bunch of nutters anyway - reported that someone was trying to poison dogs by leaving heaps of white powder in the woods. It was pointed out that this was for 'orienteering' but the nutter posting it was contacting the police anyway, just in case.

Hi!

the HHH group i used to run with (Sheffield) didn't go in for much of the silliness.

Rare moment of silliness (it was me) : i set the Christmas Hash one year, i left them some mulled wine and mince pies about half way round. The other 51 weeks of the year, it didn't get more rowdy than a pint in the pub afterwards.

Done well, the trail-finding aspect of it can be an effective way of keeping a group of mixed abilities together.

(the fast runners end up following all the dead ends, then have to catch up with the slower runners who waited at the junction - marked with a circle of flour)

i stopped running with them when the runs got too long for a monday night - i found myself taking it easy through the weekend, to save my legs, knowing i'd have a long run on Monday night, which i realised was a terrible way to treat a weekend.

for me, 6-7k is the sweet spot for a Hashing route - the fast runners should end up doing more, slow runners get a rest at the junctions - and help communicate between scouts who've gone in different directions.

Not read the rest of the thread so apologies for any duplication..

Is it possible to have the fun bit without the crap?

Yes it is, I've been hashing on & off for nearly 20yrs & never once had to witness a down down. HWH3 run a hash every Tuesday evening from a pub within a 10mile radius of high Wycombe, usually about 6miles with a short cut route of about 3.5miles, group is kept roughly together with faster runners checking which route at each junction, regroups at strategic points & on backs where x number front runners have to run to the back of the group (faster runners often end up running 9miles of an evening).

Group local to me got in the newspapers recently because locals assumed all the little symbols drawn on gates and such was criminal gangs indicating targets.

Happens quite often, if I'm setting I always let anyone I pass know what I'm up to, check marks frequently get grubbed out before a run but it's pretty obvious there is a junction & general public don't seem to spot the blobs of flour actually marking the route.

There is also such a thing as bike bashing too 🙂

Vaguely aware of hashing through an ex’s parents (both ex-military stationed abroad for long periods.) Checked out the website just now. Wow. It’s all a bit “I’m mad me, watch out!”

Not for me, thanks. I’ll stick to actual
Orienteering.

as for trail marking:

start at a pub, or cafe, whatever.

junction : mark with a circle of flour - about a foot across

mark each of the options with a single dot (tennis ball size) of flour - this dot could be fair few metres down the trail, send someone fast to explore each option.

the *correct* option will soon(ish) be marked with a 2nd dot of flour, whoever finds this yells something encouraging : 'on on!' being traditional.

the people waiting/resting at the junction kick out the circle, indicating the correct direction, relay the 'on on' call to the other scouts, who are now behind -  they are now the last person on the route - possibly a few hundred metres behind, but they can see which way to go by the kicked-out circle, when they get to it.

if i haven't made it clear, the route and it's various markings should be made in advance - about half an hour should do it. Although an experienced trail setter may flirt with a headstart of only a few minutes - they will be caught.

it's generally best to stick to distinct paths and trails, and woodland works better than open moorland.

Woah! A blast from the (very distant) past 😃
It was the Hash House Harriers runs (Khartoum) that first got me into running.
Organised by the main engineering contractor,it was an excellent mid-week social for expats of all abilities.
Great fun following (sometimes vague) arrows.
👍

I did several  in thailand, wouldve done more but it was always at the weekend when i wanted to go dirtbiking

Also did one in Borneo, it was a cycling first then running through the jungle. Really enjoyed it.

The thai crowd, half expats, would regularly go to other interhashes in malaya, indonesia etc

Try to remember not to set a route through a railway tunnel...