J. EDMUND BARNES

“A drinking group with a running problem” NEW ORLEANS- With summer just around the corner I decided to attend a running of the New Orleans Hash House Harriers, partially because I wanted to go running, and partially because I was bored. Summer and all its free time is great, but one can get into a rut. This was the first way I thought of to fight boredom. The Hash House Harriers are a loose-knit group of running clubs that seek to promote good health and comradery by social runs. Actually, a more accurate description of Hash House Harriers would be: “a drinking group with a running problem.” This isn’t to say that they don’t run some interesting trails. One of the attractions of a Hash Run is that you never run the same trail twice. The Hash House Harriers were founded in 1938 by a group of British businessmen and civil servants who found themselves in Kuala Lumpour, Malaysia. The name is derived from the place where they met regularly to eat – the Royal Selangor Club, famous for its bad cuisine and derisively nicknamed the Hash House’- and Hounds and Hares’, a traditional British public school game. Hounds and Hares involved a Hare, who used paper or flour to lay a trail which the pack of Hounds then followed. The goal of the pack was to catch the hare, while the goal of the hare was to confuse the pack. The founders of the Hash felt that while there was ample reward for the pack in actually catching the hare or reaching the end of the trail, there should be something else to spur the hounds. Their answer: a tub of cold beer at the end of the trail. The Hash House Harriers flourished until 1942 and the Japanese occupation of Malaysia. But when the war was over, the surviving hashers refounded the group. The hash began spreading in the 1960’s, first to Singapore, then to Kuching and Brunei on Borneo, then Australia, New Zealand, and finally worldwide. Today there are around 1,500 Hash Kennels on all seven continents. Hashes follow the same general routine whether one happens to be in Houston or Hong Kong. The group recognizes newcomers to the hash, then hare (or hares) explains the signs that he or she has used to mark the trail. At that point the hare gives a broad hint as to where the trail starts, and the hounds take off! Monday night’s run was considered a Dead Hare’ run, meaning that the hare had prelaid the trail and was not going to be pursued. The hounds were to follow the blobs of flour through the neighborhoods of New Orleans until they found the beer truck. Or until they discovered that the trail they were on was false, and that they have to retrace their steps. The trail was fairly easy, a two mile serpentine course through uptown New Orleans that ran through Xavier University and the Seminary before crossing Carrolton Avenue and looping back to the start of the run. Easy compared to the typical Big Easy Hash House Harriers run. Most Big Easy runs are longer (about 5-8 miles) and harder in terms of terrain covered- terrain sometimes more suited to A.T.V.s and boats rather than runners. But that’s part of the attraction of hashing: there are different kennels suited to different runners. After the run, comments about the trail were solicited from the assembled hashers. The hare was teased about the run and given a down-down (a drink). Good-natured accusations were given about real and imagined crimes against the hash committed on the trail. With the end of the accusations came the end of the hash- but the runners stayed on to talk, socalize, discuss approaching triatholons and marathons, and which brand of Shiner beer they prefer. Hashes are fun runs that can accomadate any sort of runner – from the most casual walker to someone training for a hyperthon. For more information about the New Orleans and Big Easy Hash House Harriers, call (504)846-5469.