Hashing is definitely not a race, the aim is to go out for an enjoyable run in the countryside along with other people and to have fun trying to find and follow the trail. The faster runners can have a good hard run if they want it, but everyone else should be able to keep up with them by shortcutting (which is positively encouraged!), and regrouping at check points. It is a tradition of hashing that after the run we all go back to a local pub together. Hashing is a great way to get fitter (although being able to jog is all the fitness you need), have fun, make new friends and to get to know the countryside really well. However, hashers speak a language all of their own, which often seems like (and is) gibberish. If you are stupid enough to want to know what on earth they're on about please click the following link: Yes, I want to learn hashspeak and I'm quite sane really.


Hash History
The sport of hashing started in Kuala Lumpur in Malaya in 1938. A group of young British ex-patriots decided to try to get fit and have some fun into the bargain. They each took it in turns to lay a paper trail around the countryside for the others to follow. They decided it would be much more fun if it was non-competitive and to run as a group, with the challenge being to find the trail.

After their runs the group would return to the Sengalor Club in Kuala Lumpur for a meal and drink. It was A S Gispert, known as G, who thought up the name of Hash House Harriers. It has been said that it was this memorable name which more than anything helped turn the paper chase into the new sport of hashing. A hash house was slang for a cheap eating house (this was meant tongue-in-cheek, the Sengalor Club was not what many people would think of as a hash house!) and a harrier was the name given to a cross country runner in England. Other prominent members of the group were 'Horse' Thomson who was so called because he was said to look like one and Torch Bennett who had red hair. So began the tradition of awarding hash names. Kuala Lumpur being the original hashing club is known throughout the world as the Mother Hash.

With the advent of the Second World War the hash members were spread far and wide on military duties, but runs recommenced in Kuala Lumpur after hostilities had ended. It was largely through Horse Thomson badgering his old chums to come out running that hashing survived. During the Malaya emergency of 1948-1960 many British military personnel ran with the Kuala Lumpur Hash and it was they who would later start new hash chapters. However, it was not until 1962 that the second hash club, the Singapore Hash House Harriers, was formed by Ian Cumming.

Since those early days hashing has spread throughout the world. In 1997 there were 1470 hash chapters in existence in 187 countries. The numbers are rising all the time. In England the first recorded hash was the Plymouth Commando Forces Hash House Harriers which was formed in 1971/2 by Colonel Ray Thornton. The hash was shortlived owing to military postings depleting the numbers. However, Ray went on to found Bicester H3 in April 1974 (which is the oldest surviving hash in the UK), Donnington H3 in 1976 and Looe & Liskeard H3 in 1982!

Hashing came to Devon in March 1981 with the formation of Tamar Valley H3 and Drake H3 was founded on 23 January 1984. It is believed that Devon now has the highest concentration of hashes anywhere in the world, so if you want a hashing holiday this is the place to come!

It could be said that the sport of hashing has come on in leaps and bounds and it has now become truly international. Liitle coud those few ex-pats back in 1938 guess what a monster they were creating, but it is them we have to thank for creating a truly magnificent pastime - and providing a such a wonderful excuse to drink beer (if you ever needed an excuse, that is!). So here's a toast to the original KL Hash, I'll drink to that!

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