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| HASH INFO |
THE GM: CHiPS
904-334-2720 |
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Jax Hash House Harriers
A Drinking Club with a Running Problem
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| What is hashing?
The Jax and Jax Beach Hash House Harriers are one of thousands of Hash House Harrier groups worldwide.
You could easily consider us a 'Drinking Club With a Running Problem'.
When:
We do trail every OTHER Saturday and EVERY, Wednesday (check "Hash Calendar" for times).
Where:
Where we do trail is always up to the 'Hare' - the person laying trail.
Who:
Anyone can do trail with us, it's totally non-competitive.
Why:
Beer, why else? Seriously, though...Beer is provided before, on and after trail. We lay down a trail
of flour, toilet paper and chalk with plenty of stops along the way to keep the group together.
Trails are usually in the 2-5 mile range running streets, forest, beach, fields and streams, swamps and anything that gets in the way.
Afterwards we have beer and a bit of traditional silliness.
Just show up with a sense of humor and everything should be just fine.
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How It All Began...
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Excerpts from the Global Trash Hash
Bible...
Chapter 1
From Humble Beginnings
A Short History of the Hash House Harriers
Hare and Hounds or Fox and Hounds style chases have been around for centuries in one form or
another. Of course the original concept was to mimic the original hunting sport
during times or in locations where sporting game was sparse. Some "gentlemen"
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
was a normal transition, then, to also substitute the hounds as well with
runners. Men, not as well endowed with the sense of smell, required a trail of
paper to their quarry. 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 received its
humble beginnings in 1938 from a Britisher named Albert Stephen Ignatius
Gispert, in what is now Malaysia. Having a fondness for the "paper chase", he
gathered together a group of expatriates to form a group in Kuala Lumpur that
would later become a world-wide legacy. The fraternity received its name from
the Selangor Club Chambers, which due to it's lackluster food was commonly
referred to as the "Hash House".
Known as "G", Mr. Gispert originally took
on duties as the On- Sec, convincing Cecil H. Lee and Frederick "Horse" Thompson
to become the first Joint Masters. The first runs averaged a dozen, although
attendance could sometimes be counted on one hand. (Take heart you would-be
founders out there, as this is a normal beginning.) This relatively peaceful
endeavor was cut short with the advent of the Japanese invasion, of which
several hashers distinguished themselves. Captain Gispert, who had been a
captain in the reserves, was field promoted to the active rank of captain in the
war and died in the Battle of Singapore. But, Torch Bennett reestablished the
hash after the war.
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. (I sang to midnight at the '94 Swiss Nash Hash with some of its members,
while Legs played the piano. Jolly bunch! And yes, they are emphatic about being
the second Hash House Harriers! S.D.)
It wasn't until 1962 that the next group
was formed in Singapore (that we know of anyway). The Singapore HHH was slowly
followed by others until by the Mother Hash's 1500th postwar run in 1973, there
were thirty-five known hashes around the world. This figure climbed into the
hundreds by the eighties and there are now well over 1300 active hashes. The
number is based on those listed in the Global Trash Hash Roster and are simply
the ones who have come forward to provide information, have answered the mail or
have had their information provided by interhashers or national/regional On-Sex
(plural for On-Sec - secretary). A now defunct publication, Harrier
International, claimed over 1700 hashes in their listing. However, closer
scrutiny found hundreds of outdated contacts or dead hashes, so it is still
difficult to make an informed guess. With less accuracy, it could be said that
there are indeed about 1500 to 2000 hashes out there, as many were started by
hashers who do not have contacts with hash publications or simply don't care to
register. Occasionally, there is a hash that finds out, usually by the accident
of running into other hashers, that they, indeed, aren't the only one in the
world. Their founders were not up on global hashing or failed to pass on that
knowledge to their pack.
Wherever you go, the hash is there. If
not, you can start one and the Global Trash Hash Bible is the most comprehensive
hash reference available to assist you in that effort.
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