What is Hashing?

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Jacksonville H3 is 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 Wednesday with an occasional extra trail on some Saturdays.
  • WHERE:
    • Where we do trail is always up to the 'Hare' - the person laying trail.
  • WHO:
    • Anyone of legal drinking age(Must be 21 years of age or older) can do trail with us, it's totally non-competitive. We have runners, walkers, and some people who do a mix of both.
  • 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.

Shiggy Meter

'Shiggy' is a rating system designed to give you an idea of what you'll encounter on trail.

  • Shiggy 1

    Level 1

    In town trail - city streets, maybe some stairs and city squares.

  • Shiggy 2

    Level 2

    Urban with some off road, shouldn't need a dry bag though.

  • Shiggy 3

    Level 3

    Some ready made paths & some trail blazing, could get your feet wet.

  • Shiggy 4

    Level 4

    Mostly wooded trail blazing, could be fences, walls, homeless camps, garbage dumps, mud, muck, broken glass, snakes, spiders, little furry animals, swamp, mud & water you could wade through.

  • Shiggy 5

    Level 5

    Anything goes: briars, stinky mud that could keep your shoes, plenty of water - some possibly over your head, beware of animals including snakes, possibly alligators, over all one that you should have a trail buddy with you.

History of Hashing

Paper Chase

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".

Original 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. 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, why not start one?