Who We Are
Who we are
The Hash House Harriers (HHH or H3) is an International group of non-competitive running social clubs. An event organized by a club is known as a hash, hash run or simply hashing, with participants calling themselves hashers collectively or harriers (gents) AND hariettes (ladies).
OUR HISTORY
Hashing originated in Malasyia in 1938 when a group of British colonial officers and expatriates began meeting on Monday evenings to run, in a fashion patterned after the traditional British paper chase or “hare and hounds”, to rid themselves of the excesses of the previous weekend.
OUR OBJECTIVES
1. To promote physical fitness among members.
2. To work up a healthy appetite for responsible beer drinking.
3. To engender a feeling of eternal youth in the older members of the hash.
4. To embrace and further philanthropy and charity by giving back to the community.
WHAT WE DO
At a hash, one or more members (“hares”) lays a trail. The trail includes false trails, short cuts, dead ends, check backs and splits. This keeps the pack together despite differences in fitness level, front-runners are forced to slow down to find the “true” trail, allowing stragglers to catch up. The run will start and finish at a hash home.
The hash ends with a gathering “the circle” led by the Grand Master or the Religious Adviser. The circle provides a time to socialize, recognize or punish individuals with “down-downs“and inform the group of upcoming events. We are describe as “a drinking club with a running problem” indicating that the social element is as important as the running.
HOW TO JOIN
Hash requires no reservation or membership, a small fee (in Kenya kes 200) referred to as “hash cash“ is paid to cover the costs incurred, such as food or drinks. There are almost two thousand hash chapters in the world, Kenya has six chapters: – Nairobi hash, Sunday hash, Original hash, Mombasa hash, Diani hash and Nanyuki hash.
